The Ultimate Challenge - Volume I: To the Future, and Beyond
by St. Noof
Summary: The revival of a story I used to have up on here. I've decided to redo it and make it a lot better, so here's to hoping. Join Kaje and his friends, along with a slew of anime, game, and cartoon characters, as they take part in the mysterious Gauntlet of Eternity. Currently rated T for possible language and maybe violence. I own all non-OC's in this story, obviously.
1. Challenge Accepted!

**Author's Note (Feel free to Ctrl+F the title if you don't want to read the note):** **Honestly, I was wondering if I'd ever end up rebooting this story. There were so many things I regretted about the way the previous version came out, and I wanted to scrap or redo a lot of the plot ideas I had. But, finally, the ideas kept building up, and I think I've found a way to keep this version from getting messed up. It's in the description as well, but if you recognize a character from a franchise, I don't own it. Please enjoy this revival of…**

* * *

**The Ultimate Challenge – Volume I: To the Future, and Beyond**

_By St. Noof_

**Prologue: Fragments of Forever**

It had been millennia since Goste had last tried to assemble the key to ruling the universe; a gem of such great power that no power on any world could match it, leading to a structure at the center of everything. Granted, there were other powers, sought by other entities on other worlds, but the collective heart of all worlds nor a gathering of spherical trinkets could allow Goste to truly _be_ again. No, if Goste was to reclaim existence, the only suitable means was Primus Arterium.

After eternities of peace, the gem had once again gathered into one piece, at last offering Goste just one chance to take hold of it while it was whole. The vessel constructed for Goste's imprisonment was of minimal capability; just a skeletal frame protected by a hooded white robe, with gloves and boots attached to the appendages and a mask affixed to the hood to prevent the prisoner from escaping. Still, it was enough to allow Goste to roam through endless space, and that in turn was enough for him to locate Primus Arterium.

Now, staring through artificial eyes at the object of unlimited energy, Goste reached out to take hold of the ultimate prize. It was a magnificent piece; a giant four-pointed star shape with two rings turning endlessly at its perimeter. The color of Primus Arterium was ever-changing, reflecting the boundless diversity of all worlds. Goste shook away the distraction of the jewel's beauty and moved the hands of the prison vessel toward the star shape, but—

A sudden flash! No sound could be heard in the eternal vacuum of space, but Goste could almost hear the titanic shattering of Primus Arterium anyway. When the light dissipated, there was still quite a sight to behold. Millions—or maybe more—of streaks of colored light twisted and turned around each other, surrounding a gargantuan space that could easily hold an entire world, and leaving the false hand of Goste holding but a single fragment of the great treasure. The hand closed around it angrily. So, this was the defense that the Ancient Creator had bestowed upon Primus Arterium…

"So be it," said Goste soundlessly into the void of the cosmos. "Perhaps a more circumspect method has been called for…"

**Chapter 1: Challenge Accepted!**

"Rainbow Dragon, finish this!" Kaje commanded of the giant silver serpentine dragon in front of him. Kaje was quite large in stature, though he had known individuals much bigger than himself. He had dark brown hair that was buzzed to the point of almost not being there, and a pair of wraparound sunglasses covered his eyes. The dragon, as the case was, was only visible to Kaje and anyone else wearing similar eyewear, such as the shorter man standing opposite the dragon and its master, and the three spectators standing at random positions around the battlefield.

Adorned by each of the five individuals' arms were disks with wing-like projections that were divided into five equal sections in total. The disks owned by kaje and his opponent had their wings brought together on one side, revealing places on and in which cards could be placed. The center position on the top of Kaje's disk had a card on it that depicted a picture of the beast floating in front of him. At Kaje's command, the dragon flared its enormous wings and opened its mouth, releasing a small beam of white light that came to rest on the chest of Kaje's opponent. A second later, the beam widened tenfold and began to shimmer in the seven colors of the rainbow.

"I suppose he _is _going to finish this, one way or another," said Koukin, Kaje's opponent. He was thin, with hair much longer and darker than Kaje's. It was parted at one side, with one side tucked behind his ear and the other side hanging over his other ear, so as not to obscure the visor he wore to access the holograms between himself and Kaje. Directly in front of Koukin was an enlarged image of his face-down card, which he flipped up as the beam of light widened. "Reverse card open!" he announced as a barrel with an arrow pointing to its controller rose up from the grassy lawn in front of the apartment building occupied by the five people who were present. "Magic Cylinder, go!" The barrel repositioned itself so that it caught the colorful attack of Rainbow Dragon, then turned around so that arrow was pointing to Kaje. Kaje looked up in horror at a display above Rainbow Dragon, which read "ATK/ 8000". Before he could react, the barrel's closed end opened, firing the beam past Rainbow Dragon and straight in Kaje's chest. A display above his head that read "LP/ 2900" began to tick the numbers all the way down to zero, which caused the holograms and displays to disappear.

"Go, Koukin!" cheered a slight young woman with dark blonde hair. She had what appeared to be a shaded monocle over one eye, the eyepiece connected to a cord that hung around her neck.

"Thanks, Zero," Koukin replied humbly as he removed his visor, folded it up, and began putting his cards away. "Had that been almost any other card, though, I wouldn't have been so lucky."

"Well, it's not every day we get to see Kaje take a Magic Cylinder to the face," remarked a guy who was thinner than Koukin, but with hair shorter than that of Kaje. He was wearing a shaded pair of goggles.

"He took that like a boss, Dylan," said a young man of a medium muscular build. His eyepiece was square, covered one eye, and was held in place with a small computer unit that covered the corresponding ear, and he had shortish medium-brown hair with a matching wispy beard.

"In space," added Kaje. "Don't forget that, Haze."

"All of the space," Haze agreed.

"All your talk of space makes me surprised that you don't use Alien cards," Dylan said thoughtfully.

"I think I'll leave those to you, bro," said Kaje. "I may love space, but I've no interest in Uranus, or the probing thereof."

"Ha-_ha_," Zero remarked with mild enthusiasm, while Koukin lofted a brow, Haze gave a small burst of laughter, and Dylan cracked a mischievous grin.

"Although," mused Kaje. "this thought keeps running through my head… Do you guys ever feel like this world is too small?"

"Not… really…" Koukin replied, shaking his head slowly. "The planet is almost 25,000 miles in circumference. The average human walks at about four miles per hour, meaning it would take at least three years to walk in a simple circle around the world… not that that's possible."

"Yeah, the world's pretty gigantic, dude," added Zero.

"That's not precisely what I mean," Kaje said. "I guess it's kinda hard to explain…"

"You mean you feel like you're a little too big for the planet?" Haze offered with a grin. Kaje seemed about to retort, but Dylan snapped his fingers in enlightenment.

"I think he's wondering if there's something else out there," supplied he. "Some other world, or—" Kaje had to admit, his friend was on the right track, but the reason for Dylan's sudden silence was immediately apparent. Right in the middle of the yard, a vaguely rectangular distortion appeared. It wasn't a cloud of darkness, or a shimmering light, just an odd rippling in the air. The five friends stared at it for what seemed like minutes on end, before a door materialized within the distortion.

~O~

"What do you think a door is doing in the middle of the street?" asked a short teenage boy. His hair was spiky and dark, mostly, but strands of blonde hung around his face.

"No idea, Yugi," answered a taller boy with shaggy blonde hair. He was staring at the newly formed object and speaking in a zoned-out tone of voice, as if gazing at an apparition.

"Well, it's not like this is unlike anything we've ever seen, Joey," a girl not much taller than Yugi remarked. She had shoulder-length brown hair with bangs that hung just above her eyebrows.

"True, Téa, but usually stuff popping out of thin air means something's going on with the Pharaoh—I mean, Atem," argued a boy about Joey's height with dark hair that swept forward in a point. "Now that he's gone, what else could possibly be going on?"

"Tristan's right," Yugi agreed. "It's been months since we took that trip to Egypt, and nothing's happened in that time. If this isn't happening because of the Millennium Items, though, then why _is_ it happening?"

"Maybe we should see if Kaiba knows anything about this," Téa suggested.

"No _way!_" protested Joey loudly. "There ain't _no_ way I'm gonna go to a jerk like Kaiba for answers!"

"That's because you don't go to Kaiba for anything," said a gruff voice from behind the group. The four teenagers turned around to see a boy their age with a mullet of brown. "Kaiba comes to you if he feels like helping."

"Hey there, Kaiba," Yugi greeted amiably. "Long time, no see."

"That's just the way I like it," replied Kaiba. "Sad as it is to say, it looks like I may have to spend even more time with you and your little band of misfits, unless you're not going to investigate that door." As an afterthought, he mumbled, "God forbid you make _me_ happy."

"Of course we're going to check it out!" Tristan insisted, but Yugi tugged on his sleeve to get his attention.

"Actually, I think you and Téa had better stay behind on this one," the shorter boy said reluctantly. "After all, someone's gotta cover for us at school, and help take care of Grandpa's shop."

"I suppose you're right…" agreed Tristan, even more reluctantly than Yugi had been.

"Anyway," Kaiba continued. "I've already gotten in touch with Pegasus about this. Turns out there's a door like this on the mainland near his island. I've also made a few calls to Egypt, and the Ishtars have spotted a door near the Pharaoh's tomb."

"Wait a second…" interjected Joey dubiously. "You mean to tell me Marik and Ishizu suddenly have phones? I thought they lived underground and stuff."

"Don't forget, Joey, now that Atem has been freed, they don't have to watch the tomb anymore," Tristan reminded him.

"That's right," Yugi agreed. "They're free, too; they can live however they want, and I'd imagine catching up with the times would be first on Marik's list of things to do."

"In any case," insisted Kaiba. "I think entering these doors is a bit of a preemptive move. We don't know where they could lead and…"

"And…?" Téa prompted, but Kaiba's trailing off was self-evident as the image of a face swirled in place, seemingly one with the surface of the door.

~O~

"Well, _this_ is new," said a boy with shaggy brown hair. He was wearing a red and white blazer, as was a boy standing next to him; this one with long light blue hair. The blue-haired boy had a small pair of glasses perched on his nose.

"What, the door or the face in it?" asked the bespectacled boy. "If you mean the door, I'm going to have to point out that this already happened once this year, Jaden." The door had appeared right in the middle of the dock where boats came to and departed from Duel Academy.

"That's true, Syrus," agreed a man with dark blue hair. "Although I never expected a visit to my alma mater would entail something this strange. Do you think it leads back to the dimension of Duel Monster spirits?"

"I'm surprised at you, Zane," said a high voice from behind the trio. A man with a gaunt face and long blonde hair strode in front of them to look at the face on the door's surface. The man wore a blue blazer that had odd frills on the shoulders. "I've come to expect greater skills of deduction from you, my boy. We've already quelled all of the evil in that wretched dimension. This must lead somewhere entirely."

"You really think so, Teach?" Jaden asked, looking up at the blonde man with anticipation.

"Jaden, you disrespectful slacker, I—" started the man, but he stopped himself. "Sorry, force of habit. I would appreciate it if you would call me Professor Crowler, though."

"Eh, I think I'll stick to 'Teach', if it's all the same to you," Jaden insisted. "Maybe 'Prof', or just 'Crowler', on occasion, but let's not stick ourselves to any rules, here." To Jaden's delight, Crowler was wearing the familiar grimace he often sported when his pupils gave him a hard time.

"Seems as though you have the same old talent for irritating your superiors, Jaden," remarked Zane fondly.

"Use it or lose it, right?" quipped Jaden, before being hushed by Syrus.

"I think it's about to say something…" Syrus said quietly. Sure enough, the androgynous white face on the surface of the mysterious door had a certain air about it, as if gathering itself in preparation to speak.

~O~

"Greetings and felicitations to denizens of all worlds," said the distorted voice of the face in the door. "It is with great hope that I contact you, a hope that you will listen to what I have to say, and listen well." The door bearing said face had materialized right in the middle of the bridge connecting New Domino City to the Satellite, causing many a problem with traffic and Turbo Duels alike.

"'Denizens of all worlds'?" asked a man with black hair that curved up in two points on each side, each of which bore a streak of gold. Down one side of his face was what appeared to be a linear tattoo.

"Always figured there were worlds outside our own," remarked a man with spiky orange hair that was held up by a headband. His face had multiple tattoos similar to the black-haired man's, but the one that stood out was on his forehead; it resembled a pair of bird's wings, half-folded, as if the owner of said wings was about to take flight. "Don'tcha remember that crazy ordeal with the Dark Signers, Yusei? That creep Goodwin wanted to use the power of the Underworld to reign supreme or whatever, right?"

"What a trip that was," a man with blonde hair that streaked back in a few places said. His voice carried a heavy Australian accent. "That was when you first became a Signer, Crow, remember? The Crimson Dragon decided that Goodwin wasn't a proper practitioner of the light, so it made Yusei head Signer and gave his old mark to you."

"I always wondered what happened with that," commented a woman with short dark pink hair. "I knew Crow was an important member of your guys' gang, but I had no idea why he suddenly became a huge part of this whole Crimson Dragon thing. Was that when you, Yusei, and Crow were in that four-way Turbo Duel, Jack?"

"You weren't the only one in the dark, Akiza," assured a boy with green hair so long that he had a ponytail sticking out at the top of the back of his head, before Jack could answer. "Of course, I always get left out all the cool Signer stuff…"

"That's because you're not a Signer, Leo," a girl who looked just like Leo said admonishingly. Instead of a ponytail, she had a pair of pigtails that stuck out in a similar fashion from the sides of her head.

"Leo, Luna…" the black-haired man, apparently Yusei, said softly. "Shh…" Just as he bid the children to be quiet, the face in the door began to speak again.

"I have spent much time observing the worlds scattered about through the universe," the voice continued. "but I have not merely been an observer. Most of you may notice the emergence of a game known as Duel Monsters in your own world in years past. Perhaps someone in your world invented it, or maybe no one that inhabits your world can say where the game came from. Whatever the case may be, if you are hearing my voice, then your world has been connected to a world of my own creation; a place called Duelia. In that world, I am preparing a tournament for any and all players of Duel Monsters to join."

"A massive Duel Monsters tournament?!" shouted Leo excitedly. "That is _so_ boss! I wanna join, I wanna join!"

"Sorry, little man," Crow said gently. "but I think this might be a bit too dangerous to let everyone jump into all willy-nilly." Just then, a patch of red light appeared on the right arms of Yusei, Jack, Crow, Akiza, and Luna.

"Oh, what wonderful timing…" Jack muttered. "Looks like Crow's right, Leo. I think this tournament's gonna have to be a Signers-only thing."

"_What?I_" exclaimed Leo incredulously. "That is _so_ not fair!"

"Think of it this way, bro," Luna said in a tone of mock empathy. "One of us has to stay home to cover with Mom and Dad… and to do all the homework… and take care of Yusei's garage…" Leo growled at his sister, but he stopped when Yusei put a hand on his shoulder.

"Or think of it _this_ way, Leo," he added reassuringly. "You always try to protect your sister, but this time, she's going to protect you. This thing could be really dangerous, and we don't want anyone getting hurt. Besides, if you take care of my garage, you get to check Jack's, Crow's, and my Duel Runners every day until we get back."

"Really?" Leo asked, his eyes bright. "You mean it, Yusei?"

"I think you've got the little guy sold on the job," said Crow with a chuckle.

"Absolutely," Yusei replied to Leo. "Now we just need to figure out how to get into this tournament…"

"The door to Duelia will open when the world's name appears on this door," said the voice, as if in direct response to Yusei. "The doors to this world will remain open for the duration of the tournament, but once the opening ceremony has ended, only those present will be named contestants in the Gauntlet of Eternity."

"Well, I'd say that answers your query," Akiza said, nudging Yusei.

~O~

"Did you hear that, guys?" jabbered a boy with black hair that curled up into four points at the sides of his head. On his forehead were two sweeping clumps of red hair that pointed up and slightly back. The face in the door, which had appeared in the middle of the street in front of the local middle school, had just finished its speech. Promptly after it had ceased talking, the face had disappeared altogether, leaving the smooth gray-brown surface of the strange door completely blank again, save for an ornate doorknob.

"I think everyone in the city heard it, Yuma," a stout boy with similar hair, albeit without the red, retorted. "From what I can tell, these doors are poppin' up all over the place."

"That's statistically very likely, Bronk," commented a bookish boy with blue hair with bangs that were parted in the middle. "Based on what this entity is saying, it would seem that this is far from a localized event."

"Save us the fancy talk, Caswell!" a small boy with short brown hair and glasses shouted. "I just want my info at face value."

"He agrees with Bronk," said a girl with shoulder-length green hair. "You know how Caswell is, Flip. He loves to point out the data."

"Right as usual, Tori!" Caswell said with a huge grin.

"Enough about data and stuff!" Yuma shouted. "What about this tournament? Are you guys gonna join? Huh? Are ya?"

"Count me out, man," Bronk replied. "I like to Duel and all, but goin' through a random door to who-knows-where sounds just a little too dangerous for me."

"I'm afraid I must concur with Bronk," admitted Caswell. "As a scientist, I find myself both intrigued and terrified by the unknown."

"Yeah, and who knows what could be on the flip side of that door?" Flip said uncertainly with a shiver.

"You would be wise to listen to your friends, I think," a floating figure made of blue light chipped in. "My first conjecture was that perhaps this door had something to do with my memories, but we have collected enough Number cards that I would recognize this kind of event if it was important."

"Who asked you, Astral?!" shouted Yuma. Astral merely quirked a brow at the only person who could see and hear him, while Yuma's friends all cast a glance in the general direction where they thought the alien spirit was. Yuma's attention was suddenly drawn to a boy with dark purple hair that hung around his face like tentacles. The boy had come from the school, just as Yuma and his friends had, and he passed by the group to inspect the door for himself. After a moment or two, he turned back to Yuma and grinned.

"Still talking to your imaginary friend there, Yuma?" the purple-haired student said, still smirking.

"Heya, Shark!" Yuma greeted, sporting a grin of his own. "Do _you_ wanna come with me to the tournament on the other side of that door?" Shark considered this for a moment or two, and then nodded solemnly. "All right!" cheered Yuma.

"Make no mistake, though," Shark warned. "I'm not just going there to be your buddy, Yuma. If I enter, we're rivals again. Got it?"

"Yeah!" agreed Yuma after several seconds of contemplation. "Wouldn't have it any other way, pal!"

"You boys have fun with that," Tori said, smiling at the competitive spirit of the two Duelists.

"Oh, I will," promised Yuma, giving the green-haired girl a thumbs-up. "I am most definitely feelin' the flow! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going home to strengthen my Deck." Yuma was about to walk away when there was the unmistakable sound of a grumbling stomach. "I suppose I'll be stocking up on Duel Fuel while I'm at it," he said with a wide grin before racing off.

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**Okay, that may have been a little schizophrenic for one chapter, but it's occurred to me (thanks to TheTrainTicket) that a story revolving around Duel Monsters would be more well-received if I included the actual Yu-Gi-Oh! characters. In light of that, I thought I'd give no one an opportunity to be disappointed by the volume of familiar faces.**

**Kaje, Koukin, Dylan, Zero, and Haze are obviously OC's, and there are more on the way, but I still have plenty of existing characters to write in. If you've read the previous incarnation of TUC, you know a bit of what's coming, but I have a new twist.**

**If you want to see a given character or franchise in this story, send me a PM with the character's name, appearance, franchise, and an idea or full Deck list they'll be using. I also need descriptions of the monsters in the Deck, as well as card effects and stats for custom cards. If you prefer, feel free to email all of that to me at maskofnoof at aol dot com. Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	2. Let the Games Begin!

**Chapter 2: Let the Games Begin!**

"I don't wanna be the first to touch that thing…" Haze muttered, gesturing toward the door in the middle of the apartment building's front lawn. Several days had passed since the white, nondescript face had made its announcement, prompting Kaje and his friends to watch the mysterious portal almost constantly, awaiting the moment when the word "Duelia" would appear on its surface. Finally, it had happened, and Haze had been the first to speak as the five friends stood around the door in awkward silence.

"Well, one of us has to open it," Koukin pointed out. "If no one opens it, we can't join the tournament, and we miss out on whatever rewards are offered to the winners."

"I'm with Haze," said Dylan solemnly. "I don't want that face coming back and biting off my hand or something."

"I don't think that entity would bother to do that," reasoned Kaje. "If it invited us to Duelia, clearly it wants us there, and not screaming in our own worlds with a hand missing."

"Wonderful," Zero retorted. "So you're saying that it'd rather pull us into its own world, where we're probably at the mercy of whatever evil it could planning."

"Okay, I walked into that one," admitted Kaje with a shrug. "Look, if it makes you guys feel any better, _I'll_ open the door." When no one said anything to contradict him, Kaje nodded in satisfaction and reached for the doorknob. Not giving his friends the opportunity to make any further fuss, the largest of the group quickly grasped and turned the cool metal knob. When Kaje pulled back, the door opened, revealing a crowd of people gathered in some sort of enormous city square.

"I was expecting a building, but I've been wrong before," Koukin said with a raised brow. He stepped forward and put his foot over the threshold experimentally.

"Well, your foot's not gone," commented Dylan approvingly. "That's a good sign." Koukin gave his friend an amused glance before stepping through the door completely.

"It's safe, guys," he invited casually. "It's just like any other doorway… only, you know, freestanding and defying physics and all of that. I say we go ahead with it."

"Works for me," agreed Kaje before leaving his position and stepping through the portal himself. It took a whole minute before Zero, Dylan, and Haze followed their friends' lead, letting the door swing shut behind them. Just as their side of the door had been inscribed with the word "Duelia", the other side had an inscription that spelled out "Ketto Sekai".

"Odd," Koukin remarked. "I wonder what that means."

"Looks like it's Japanese," conjectured Haze. "Not sure what it means, but it's probably the name of our own world."

"Weird…" Zero murmured. "Our planet has its own name, but it's not the one printed on the door. I always thought 'planet' and 'world' were more or less synonymous."

"That's probably proof of how little we know about the universe around us," said Kaje thoughtfully, playing with a bit of stubble on his chin.

"How can you people be talking about our own world when this one is so freaking _cool?_" Dylan asked as he pivoted in place, taking in the sight of the city they had ended up in. Indeed, it was an impressive sight; buildings surrounded the area, ranging greatly in shape and size from short, squat, restaurants to tall department stores that seemed almost to sway with their height. Though the establishments were truly something to behold, the area on the inside was equally breathtaking. At each corner was an enormous fountain, each of which held a statue of a dragon, their wings spread wide and their heads upturned to let loose the torrents of water. In the very center of the titanic square was a circular stage, the size of which none of the five residents of Ketto Sekai had yet seen. All around the stage stood a bustling crowd of Duelists, varying not only in skin color and body type, but also apparently by species. There were humans, of course, but a trio of vibrantly colored anthropomorphic animals was standing opposite from Kaje and his friends, and a white creature resembling a mix between a reindeer and a dog with a Mohawk of green fur was flying over the crowd on flat wing-like ears.

"This place is _amazing,_" Koukin agreed quietly. Kaje and Haze nodded, but Zero seemed only mildly impressed.

"I'll be moved to tears when I see an awesome jungle or something," she said with a roll of her eyes. Before any of her friends could respond, a hush fell over the massive crowd. At the center of the giant stage, a circular portion of its surface slid back, revealing a space underneath, from which a figure in a white robe began to rise on a platform. When the platform reached its intended position, the robed figure spread its arms out in a welcoming gesture. The gender of the figure was absolutely indeterminate—the robe was quite loose-fitting, and the attached gloves allowed for no sign of visible flesh. Most notable concerning the entity was the mask that covered its face. It was simple; white with black lenses for eyes, a long nose, and a set of vertical slits where one's mouth would be.

"Hello, contestants," announced the distorted voice that everyone recognized as the one matching the mask that they had all previously seen on the doors to Duelia. "and welcome to a world of my own creation, a world ruled by the game of Duel Monsters, a game you all love. In this world, you will attain greatness by defeating your fellow Duelists, and you will all compete for the highest title any tournament could ever offer. The winner of this contest will have a status akin to a god among the universe." A generally excited response came from the huge crowd, lasting several seconds before the figure in white raised its hands to request quiet. "I am Goste, and for one of you, I will be your final and most challenging opponent in this tournament. You may be wondering exactly how to procure that position, and the answer is simple." Goste raised one of its hands, revealing a tiny spherical jewel that reflected the sunlight in a brilliant red. "This is an Accolade, and it is the unit of progress here in Duelia. Each participant here will receive a set number of Accolades at the start of the competition, and in a Duel, you will wager your Accolades against those of your opponent. This part of the tournament will last exactly one year, a time that will be tracked on the screens placed in this world and in worlds all over the universe. At the end of that year, anyone still in possession of at least one Accolade will be admitted to the finals." The crowd began to murmur, but Goste spoke over them. "I am aware that this seems like a feat easily accomplished by many, but remember, my friends—this is a _competition_. There are those who will seek to take all of the Accolades of their opponents, and when you are presented with a challenge where Accolades are being wagered, you _must_ accept that challenge. If you refuse to do so, or if you lose all of your Accolades, you will be removed from the tournament."

"Sounds similar to the tournaments we used to be in," remarked Yugi, who was standing near Kaje's group. "Remember, Joey?"

"Like Duelist Kingdom, when we had to collect those Star Chips," Joey replied with a nod.

"I wish I'd thought to make Duels mandatory in the Battle City tournament," thought Kaiba aloud. "That would have made things a lot more interesting."

"During your stay in this world, you will encounter many opportunities to obtain supplies, cards, and other items," Goste continued. "All facilities in Duelia are free to contestants who possess at least one Accolade, including lodging at the various inns and hotels you'll find here. However, be aware that not many challenges will await those who insist on remaining stationary. To help you remain competitive, the finals have been organized so that those with the most Accolades will be pitted against those with the fewest Accolades." This brought a myriad of mixed responses from the crowd. "In short, I encourage all of you to be forthright with your Dueling. With that, I will wish you luck, and express to you my hope of seeing the very best Duelists in the universe here in the City Zone for the finals of the Gauntlet of Eternity, one year from this—" Several screens began rising from the ground in the square, shooting up from nowhere, it seemed. "very—" All at once, the screens lit up with an identical display that read 1:000:00:00:00. "second!" The very instant Goste spoke the word "second", he flicked the Accolade he held up into the air. There was a great flash of the brightest white light, and when it cleared, Goste was gone. The displays had already begun to count down, leaving the massive crowd to disperse in mad cacophony.

"What a presentation!" said a very tan boy with a mop of blonde hair who was wearing a great deal of gold jewelry.

"Marik!" Yugi cried happily, extending a hand, which the tan boy shook enthusiastically.

"It's good to see you, Joey, and Kaiba again," Marik said cheerily. "I've been looking forward to having a Duel with you for quite some time."

"After all that happened up on the blimp, it'd be fun to Duel against just plain old Marik, and not that creep who took over your mind," agreed Yugi.

"I vastly prefer not to think of the Battle City semifinals," Kaiba said flatly. "That was meant to be one of my greatest triumphs, and that whole mess with the Egyptian God cards messed everything up."

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about those cards making any more trouble," supplied Marik with reconciliatory gesture. "They're safely locked away in Atem's pyramid, along with all of the Millennium Items."

"Let's hope you know what you're talking about when you say 'safely locked away'," Kaiba replied, his voice still carrying a surly tone. "With any due luck, I can Duel in this tournament with no worries about freaky dark magic and past lives getting in the way."

"Excuse me," interjected Koukin politely. "I couldn't help but hear you mention the word 'Duel'. Would you by chance be willing to accept a humble challenge?"

"_You're_ challenging _me?_" Kaiba asked incredulously. "_Me?_ Seto Kaiba, organizer of the Battle City and KaibaCorp Grand Prix tournaments?" He scoffed rudely, but Yugi stepped in.

"Kaiba, you have to remember that we're in a place where people from different worlds are gathered," the smaller boy reminded his companion. "This guy might not even be from our world, so he might have no idea who you are or what your reputation is."

"Yeah, Kaiba!" cosigned Joey. "Don't be a first-class jerk, for once in your sleazy life!"

"Can it, Wheeler," Kaiba replied icily. "I suppose you have a point, Yugi. Not many Duelists here will know my name, so I'll use this punk as an example, so all denizens of the universe will revere Seto Kaiba."

"Sounds fun," said Koukin with a grin. "I enjoy setting good examples, but I hope some will come to respect the name of Koukin Shisai. Would you mind if we wagered Accolades?"

"Whatever," said Kaiba. "How many?"

"I'm… not sure," Koukin replied hesitantly. "I don't know how many we start with." It was at that moment that he noticed an unfamiliar, if barely perceptible, weight in the front pocket of his pants. He reached into the pocket and withdrew a small black leather-bound book, which he opened to find several pages that had tiny pockets of their own. The first five pockets on the first page were occupied by different-colored Accolades. Kaiba looked at the black book for a second, then reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and brought out a light-blue book of his own. Koukin took one of the little gems out of its place, examining it for a moment before speaking. "How does two Accolades sound to you?"

"Sure, fine," Kaiba accepted hastily. "Now let's Duel!" He and Koukin moved apart so that there was room between them for the Duel field, but as their Duel Disks activated, each participant looked down at his left arm curiously.

"This isn't the Duel Disk I was using back in Ketto Sekai," remarked Koukin, examining the compact disk on his forearm. The one he had walked in with was silver with protruding wings that formed the holder's side of the field. This Duel Disk had no protrusions at the moment, and it was black with a red insignia on the top that depicted the silhouette of a fox's face. There was a similar disk on Kaiba's arm, but it was light blue with a white insignia of a pair of dragon's wings. Koukin dug around in his other pockets for a moment or two, finally coming up empty-handed. "My Duel Visor is gone, too!"

"So is my Duel Scouter!" exclaimed Haze from behind Koukin, frantically patting himself down. Zero, Dylan, and Kaje quickly followed suit, but no one managed to find their special eyewear.

"Well, I guess this world runs on more different rules than we thought," Kaje mumbled. "Maybe we won't need our Gazer equipment here. Go ahead with the Duel, Koukin, and we'll see what happens."

"Might as well…" sighed Koukin. "Are you ready, Mr. Kaiba?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Kaiba said with a hint of irritation in his voice. "Like I said, let's Duel!" At his words, both his and Koukin's Duel Disks sprang to life. The front of each instrument opened, allowing a short cylindrical extension to emerge. The extensions unfolded rapidly, becoming the appropriate spaces to place cards. Compartments on the front and sides of the Duel Disks popped out, revealing that the Duelists' Decks had been stored inside the Duel Disks themselves. A slot on Kaiba's Duel Disk appeared above the front compartment, which was empty, and displays materialized over the heads of Koukin and Kaiba, both marked by the letters "LP", and reading a value of 8000. "You can go first," said Kaiba after a few seconds, his voice carrying a mixture of haughtiness and astonishment. Seemingly in response to his speech, the Duel Disks spit out cards from the compartments containing the Decks, which faced the holders' wrists.

"So, what do we do about the Accolades?" Kaiba asked, just before a small compartment opened at the top of each Duel Disk. Kaiba looked down at the compartment and scratched his head briefly before placing two of the tiny gemstones inside of it. Koukin did the same, and the compartments snapped shut automatically.

"All right," said Koukin, taking the six cards that had been distributed from his Duel Disk. "I'll start by summoning Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, in Attack Mode!" As Koukin placed the card on the red space on the far left on his Duel Disk, a man dressed in a gray jumpsuit appeared in front of him, standing to Koukin's left side. The man crossed his arms in front of himself, his hands closed in fists. As a display headed by the letters "ATK" appeared above his head, the number on which read 1800, he uncrossed his arms and opened his hands, revealing sleek blades poised in the space between his middle and ring fingers.

"Well, that was nifty," said Joey, who had found a bench nearby and was seated on it backwards to watch the Duel.

"That's not the only nifty thing I'll do," Koukin responded. "Now I'm giving those kunai of his an upgrade. I equip Sasuke with Fusion Sword Murasame Blade!" The ninja in gray threw his blades upward, and they combined in a flash of light. A sword dropped from the sky, landing in Sasuke's hands. As the ninja swung the katana, it was apparent that it had been fused with his hand. "Thanks to this sword, my monster gains a cool 800 Attack Points." Just as Koukin had said, the display changed from 1800 to 2600. "I'll finish by placing two cards face-down. Your turn, Mr. Kaiba."

"Not a bad first move," admitted Kaiba. "but watch this! I draw!" His Duel Disk presented a sixth card, which he took. "First, I summon Lord of Dragons, in Attack Mode!" A man garbed in a cape and armor appeared directly in front of Kaiba. His adornments were decorated with bones of some sort, and the display over his head showed a value of 1200. "Next, I'll activate The Flute of Summoning Dragon!" A golden flute shaped like a dragon's head appeared before the Lord of Dragons, who took it and began to play an enchanting melody. "With its power, I can summon up to two dragons from my hand, so say hello to the Kaiser Glider and my personal favorite, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" On either side of the caped flutist, a dragon burst into existence. On its right was a gold-colored dragon that appeared to be radiating a fiery aura. On the other side was a bluish-white dragon with huge, flaring wings. The gold dragon had 2400 Attack Points, and the white one had 3000. "Now, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke! White Lightning Attack!" The white dragon rose from the ground, flared its wings, and opened its mouth to release a wide beam of blue-white light that enveloped Koukin's monster. The display above Koukin dropped from 8000 to 7600, but when the beam faded, in the ninja's place was a smoldering pile of ash that vaguely resembled a log.

"Well, that stung," Koukin said, brushing himself off. "Good thing Sasuke is versed the Ninjitsu Art of Decoy. While he's using it, he can't be destroyed in battle." The gray-clad warrior reappeared, with the Trap Card that gave him his power standing behind him.

"Just dandy," muttered Kaiba. "I'll set a card face-down and end my turn."

"Excellent," Koukin said, taking his next card. "I'll set a monster face-down, and then I'll have Sasuke attack your Lord of Dragons! Go, Sasuke!" The grand master struck a pose, then disappeared. From behind Kaiba, he swooped in, but Lord of Dragons vanished and was replaced by a jagged rip in the air.

"I activate my Trap Card!" announced Kaiba, revealing the card. "Dimensional Prison will trap your ninja in another dimension, preventing him from attacking!"

"I don't think so," Koukin said calmly, revealing his other card just before Sasuke was swallowed by the black hole. "I activate the Ninjitsu Art of Transformation Trap! All I have to do is sacrifice a ninja, and I get to Special Summon a beast in its place that's up to three Levels higher. Good bye, Sasuke. Nice having you on the field!" The gray ninja disappeared in a burst of pixels, and a gigantic koala bear popped up on Koukin's side of the field in a puff of smoke. "Say hello to my friend from Down Under—Big Koala!" The blue-tinted beast tilted its head and eyed Kaiba's monsters warily as its Attack Points display appeared, showing a value of 2700. "Now, let's see… new monster, check. Still my Battle Phase, check. All right, Big Koala, take out Lord of Dragons!" The big bear lowered itself to all fours and charged, delivering a mighty headbutt that made Kaiba's monster shatter.

"Lucky shot," groaned Kaiba as his Life Points lowered to 6500.

"Now for the insurance," Koukin continued. "For my next act, I'm equipping Big Koala with this Black Pendant, raising his Attack Points by 500." A necklace with an ornate ebony charm stretched itself around the bear's neck, and the Attack Points display changed to 3200 as a dark aura surrounded Big Koala. "Turn end."

"I draw," Kaiba said sullenly as he looked at his new card. "I activate Shrink, a Spell that will cut your koala's Attack Points in half!" Big Koala suddenly dropped in size, ending up about the size of a normal koala, and having only 1850. "Perfect," said Kaiba with a grin. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon, destroy Big Koala with White Lightning!" Blue-Eyes flew into the air and shot its breath weapon, incinerating Koukin's monster and taking his Life Points down to 6450. As the Black Pendant card entered the compartment on Koukin's Duel Disk that faced the field, a black aura came out of the compartment, enveloping Kaiba and taking on an electrical appearance. Kaiba winced as his Life Points went down to 6000.

"Destroying my Black Pendant comes with a price," Koukin said, showing just the slightest signs of smugness. "As you can see, that price happens to be 500 Life Points, and I've got three of those trinkets in my Deck."

"Wonderful…" growled Kaiba. "However, you're out of tricks, so my Kaiser Glider can go right in to destroy your monster! Go, my Glider, take out his face-down monster!" The golden dragon rose a bit in the air and vaulted forward, twisting as it flew and creating a corkscrew of flame around itself. As it neared the giant card resting in front of Koukin, the card flipped up, revealing a man in gray wielding a large blade. The warrior tried to defend himself against the dragon's attack, but it was no use. He shattered in the blaze, but a black rip in the air appeared and swallowed Kaiser Glider, along with the pixels that remained of the defending monster.

"Out of tricks?" Koukin repeated with a smile. "Ninjas never run out of tricks. For example, my D.D. Assailant takes any monster that destroys him and takes that monster to an alternate dimension. I believe you tried to take Sasuke there last turn."

"You're crafty, kid," said Kaiba.

"Kid?" Koukin repeated again. "I'm older than you!"

"But you're not richer than me," replied Kaiba. "I set a card face-down and end my turn."

"You know, Mr. Kaiba, I'm going out of my way to be polite because I don't know you," Koukin said, beginning to become a bit indignant.

"Don't bother!" Joey shouted. "He's just a jerk. You won't get any respect from him unless you beat him, so don't hold back, man!" Yugi looked at his best friend scornfully, and Kaiba glared at the blonde boy angrily.

"I think the blonde guy's right," Zero speculated. "Kaiba seems like a real asshole. Let him have it, Koukin!" Kaje, Dylan, and Haze nodded in agreement, and Koukin returned the gesture with an appreciative grin.

"I'll draw and activate Dimensional Fissure!" shouted Koukin triumphantly. "This Spell makes it impossible for monsters to enter the Graveyard." From behind each of the Duelists, a four-pointed black star appeared and began to shift and shake in midair. "Instead, they'll go to the other dimension, where your Kaiser Glider and my D.D. Assailant currently reside. I'll also place a card face-down and end my turn." The giant version of the card materialized in front of Koukin, and Kaiba took his next card.

"I summon Vorse Raider, in Attack Mode!" the tycoon announced, placing down a card that released a vicious-looking humanoid beast in body armor. The monster roared and brandished a bladed staff as a display above its head appeared, reading 1900. "What a fortunate moment for me, seeing as you're open for an attack. Vorse Raider, have at him!" The beastly warrior charged forward, but it ran into a shimmering wall of light as Koukin flipped up a card.

"Sorry, Kaiba," said Koukin with not much regret. "but my Mirror Force doesn't quite agree with your Vorse Raider." Vorse Raider was suddenly sucked into the reflective surface he had hit, his image becoming oddly flat before being launched back toward Kaiba. Vorse Raider crashed into Blue-Eyes White Dragon, causing an explosion that left neither of the monsters standing, or even existing.

"All right!" cheered Yugi. "That's one of my favorite Trap Cards!"

"I only liked it when I got to turn it into a dragon," Kaiba grumbled. "I've got no more cards in my hand, so I have to end my turn."

"Sweet!" Koukin said as he drew his next card. "I summon White Ninja, in Attack Mode!" A masked figure in a white jumpsuit leaped onto the battlefield from behind Koukin as a display reading 1500 appeared. "Now that the tables have turned, it's _my_ turn to attack! White Ninja, strike him down!" The warrior jumped forward, doing a handstand in the center of the field, and jumped again, aiming a kick right for Kaiba's head. Just as his attack was about to connect, Kaiba flipped up a card, and White Ninja disappeared in a bluish-green vortex. The vortex reappeared on Koukin's side of the field, depositing his monster harmlessly.

"I activated my Negate Attack Trap!" announced Kaiba triumphantly. "It… negates you attack."

"Fair enough," Koukin said. "Your turn." Kaiba drew his next card and smirked.

"I activate the Soul Absorption Spell Card!" he said proudly. "Now, every time a card is removed from play, I gain 500 Life Points for each one removed. Unfortunately, that's all I have for now, but I think I can take a little damage."

"I see," replied Koukin evenly, looking at his next card. "Okay, White Ninja, let's try this again." The white-clad man looked back and nodded at his controller before repeating his attack routine, this time striking Kaiba in the head. Kaiba reeled backward as his Life Points ticked down to 4500. "Next, I'll set a card face-down and end my turn." Kaiba drew a card and paused for a moment.

"I think I'll summon my Kaiser Sea Horse, in Attack Mode!" he said confidently. A humanoid sea serpent clad in armor floated up from a pool of light on the ground. In one hand, it clutched a bladed shield; in the other, a staff whose head resembled a crescent moon. "With my Soul Absorption in play, I'll get 500 Life Points for destroying your monster, so go Kaiser Sea Horse, attack White Ninja!"

"Yeah, see, I'm not too keen on taking any more damage…" said Koukin uncertainly. "I'm gonna have my White Ninja transform into something a little beefier, if that's all right with you. Go, Ninjitsu Art of Transformation… again!" White Ninja made a hand sign in front of himself and disappeared in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, a huge beast stood in his place, baring its jagged teeth and shaking its shaggy reddish fur as its Attack Points display popped up, showing 2700. "Care to replay your battle?"

"I think I'll pass…" Kaiba relented as his Life Points jumped back up to 5000.

"Cool, then for my turn, I'll have Behemoth, the King of All Animals, attack your sea horse!" The lumbering beast galumphed forward and bit down on the Kaiser Sea Horse savagely, bringing Kaiba's Life Points down to 4000 again before Soul Absorption brought them back up to 4500. "Once again, I'll set a card, and that'll do it for me."

"I summon Luster Dragon!" Kaiba shouted hurriedly. A beautiful blue dragon flew onto the field, its scales shimmering like sapphires.

"You know you can Set monsters, right?" asked Koukin, scratching his head in thought.

"I never back down, and I will _not_ let my monsters go down without a fight!" replied Kaiba fiercely. "Do your worst!"

"You're gonna wish you hadn't said that…" sighed Koukin, drawing his next card. "I summon Strike Ninja to the field!" A ninja in black jumped onto the field, sporting a shiny mask that resembled a golden star as his Attack Points display appeared, reading 1700. "Now I activate my Trap Card! Strike Ninja, execute the Ninjitsu Art of Duplication!" Strike Ninja made a hand sign in front of himself and was enveloped in a puff of smoke. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Koukin shouted as the smoke cleared, revealing a face-down card, two ninjas in red suits, and a ninja wearing black and holding a staff similar to the one Kaiser Sea Horse had held. "Now, using these three ninjas, I'll build a little something called the Overlay Network!" Each of the monsters became a sphere of brown light that swirled together like electrons around a nucleus. In the middle of them, a black hole appeared, and a formless shadow jumped out of it. "From that network, I Xyz Summon Shadow-Stalker Shinobi, in Defense Mode!" The shadow took a humanoid shape as a display materialized over its head, marked by the letters "DEF", and showing a value of 2500. "Now, I'll get rid of an Overlay Unit from my Shinobi to activate its special ability. Go, Shadow Snatch!" Koukin's ninja sucked in one of the brown balls of light and shot it at Luster Dragon. When the dragon was hit, black lines ran along its body, and it flew over to Koukin's side to stare at its summoner viciously.

"What's going on?!" Kaiba yelled. "What kind of monster is that, and what has it done to my monster?!"

"It reminds me of that time I met some Duelists from the future," said Yugi thoughtfully. "One of the guys I met did something called a Synchro Summon. Maybe this is like that."

"That's some story, Yug," Joey said with a chuckle. "Duelists from the future… you've got quite the imagination, pal."

"Nonetheless, you'll get your dragon back next turn," promised Koukin. "For now, enjoy the 1000 Life Points you got from my sacrifice and Shadow-Stalker's ability, because you won't have them for long." Kaiba's Life Points rose to 5500. "Now, Luster Dragon and Behemoth, attack!" Behemoth charged and headbutted Kaiba, sending him flying as his Life Points dropped back down to 2800, and Luster Dragon shot a stream of blue fire that hit Kaiba in midair and took his Life Points down to 900. "Like I said, you can have your dragon back." The black lines on Luster Dragon faded, and it flew back to Kaiba's side. "Also, since Luster Dragon dealt you direct damage, I have to give up 500 Life Points." Koukin's Life Points dropped to 5950 as Kaiba drew his next card.

"I'll set a card face-down, and that's it," Kaiba said sullenly.

"Well, this will be fun," said Koukin cheerily. "I Flip Summon my Armed Ninja!" The sideways card brought forth by Strike Ninja's duplication flipped up, revealing another staff-wielding warrior in black. Without hesitation, the monster threw its staff and impaled Kaiba's Soul Absorption card, causing it to shatter. "Well, look at that—it's like he knew what I was going to do. Anyway, no need to take control of your monster again, so I'll just have Behemoth take out your Luster Dragon!" The mighty animal king lumbered toward Kaiba, but he flipped up a card, and Behemoth became frozen in place as Kaiba's Life Points rose to 3600.

"Thanks to my Draining Shield, I won't be losing my dragon or any more Life Points," Kaiba said with a sigh of relief.

"Well, I don't have any more room for face-down cards, so it's your move," continued Koukin, waving Kaiba on.

"Good to hear," Kaiba replied, taking his next card. "I'll Set a card, and now, Luster Dragon, take out his Armed Ninja!" The brilliant blue monster stretched out its neck and spat of ball of blue flames at the black-clad ninja, incinerating it and taking Koukin's Life Points down to 4350. "Your turn, Koukin." Koukin drew his next card, but then looked at Kaiba in surprise.

"You haven't used my name since we started this Duel," he said quietly. "If I didn't know better, I'd say I'm earning your respect. That being said, I think it's time I gave you a chance to make things a little more even. I'll just place a monster in Defense Mode, and that'll be it." Kaiba grinned wickedly as he drew his next card.

"I activate my Trap Card!" Kaiba shouted, flipping the card up. "Return From the Different Dimension!" A black rift appeared in front of Kaiba as his Life Points dropped to 1800. "With this card, I can bring back any monsters that have been sent beyond the Graveyard, namely Vorse Raider, Kaiser Glider, and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The named monsters fell from the rift, taking their places by Luster Dragon. "Next, I'll sacrifice Luster Dragon and Vorse Raider for another Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" A second blue-white dragon flew in next to its twin, and both roared triumphantly. "Now for the Battle Phase! Go, my Blue-Eyes! Destroy Behemoth and Shadow-Stalker Shinobi with White Lightning!" In twin bursts of the fearsome attack, the dark form and the reddish beast were demolished, leaving Koukin with 4050 Life Points. "Finally, Kaiser Glider, finish his face-down monster!" The gold dragon zipped forward and dove into the card, which flipped up to reveal another White Ninja. In a blaze of fire, it disappeared. "That's the end of my turn, so any monsters summoned from the Different Dimension go back to where they were." The black rift reappeared and sucked in Kaiser Glider and Blue-Eyes as Koukin drew his next card.

"I should've learned from Dueling with Kaje that mercy turns are _never_ a good idea…" muttered Koukin.

"Man, that was low, even for Kaiba," Joey spat disdainfully. Yugi nodded, his expression disheartened.

"I never would have thought Kaiba would resort to trickery," said the shorter boy sadly.

"I don't think anyone's ever gone neck-and-neck for this long with Koukin," Zero said in wonder. "Who do you guys think is gonna win?"

"That's a tough one," answered Haze, scratching his head. "They've both got advantages and disadvantages right now."

"What are you talking about?" Dylan asked, gazing at Kaiba's monster. "Kaiba's got the big monster now, so the outcome's obvious."

"That's not always the case," said Marik, who had walked over to see the Duel from the other side. "There's been many a time that Kaiba's been defeated when the power has been on his side. Just ask Yugi, if you don't believe me."

"I think I see where you're coming from," Kaje replied, looking closely at the field. "On one hand, Kaiba has a powerful monster, but Koukin took a turn to save a card in his hand. Even though his Spell and Trap Card Zones are all used up, there's one thing that can turn this whole Duel around, and if he can pull it off, Kaiba won't have any spare cards to stop it." Marik nodded enthusiastically, and everyone looked expectantly at Koukin.

"I suppose all of these useless cards are blocking my progress, aren't they?" said Koukin with a shrug. "Well, I'll just have to get rid of them. I send my Ninjitsu Arts to the Graveyard! Be gone, Decoy, Duplication, and Transformation!"

"You can't just get rid of your Spell and Trap Cards!" Kaiba protested, his eyes growing wide.

"I can when I'm using them for a sacrifice," said Koukin as the three giant cards were set on fire. "With these three offerings, I call upon Uria, the Lord of Searing Flames!" From the smoking inferno rose a long thin red dragon. It spread its arms wide to reveal the wings that hung from them, and began to twist in midair, showing off the curved spikes that ran down its spine. With a glint in its eyes, it straightened itself and let loose a mighty roar, its mouth opening wide to reveal a second set of teeth as its Attack Point display appeared, reading 3000.

"Could that be…?" Marik asked, his mouth gaping. "It looks like Slifer, the Sky Dragon, but…"

"But it's got mouthception going on," Dylan pointed out.

"How is this guy summoning an Egyptian God?" wondered Joey. "I thought those were locked away for good."

"It's not him," Yugi said after a few moments in thought. "It may look like Slifer, but Slifer can't be summoned by sacrificing Trap Cards."

"How perceptive," Koukin said, nodding. "This is actually a Sacred Beast, and its summoning condition makes it perfect for my ninja Deck. Unfortunately, I couldn't get rid of my last Trap Card, so I can't give him another 1000 Attack Points, but now I have the space to place a card face-down. That'll do it for me."

"All right, then I'll set a card face-down and end my turn right away," hurried Kaiba, taking the card he drew and immediately placing it onto the field. "No doubt you're hoping I'll choose to have my Blue-Eyes tie with your Uria, but I don't believe in such sacrifices, so it looks like we're going to be here for awhile."

"Actually, I'm getting kind of bored," Koukin said with a yawn. "Things don't normally stall much for me, so I'm not really used to my Duels taking this long. I think I'll help you along and have Uria attack the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The sinister red dragon flew forward and breathed a wide stream of fire at its target, but Kaiba flipped up a card, and a bundle of dynamite sticks appeared, attaching itself to his dragon's neck by means of a long chain. As the fire drew closer, Blue-Eyes shot its lightning breath, and the two attacks tied for a moment. "How is your dragon fending off Uria's attack?" Koukin asked.

"It's that dynamite I put on it," answered Kaiba proudly. "That explosive's called Blast with Chain, and it grants my monster 500 extra Attack Points; just enough to get rid of your faux Egyptian God card." The lightning overtook Uria's flames, overwhelming the red dragon in light and making Koukin's Life Points fall to 3550.

"Why didn't you use Uria's priority effect?" asked Kaje as Koukin staggered backward slightly from the damage. "You could've gotten rid of Blast with Chain before he even activated it."

"I thought I had it in the bag, to tell you the truth," Koukin said with a sheepish grin. "It seems as though it's gotten out. I end my turn." Kaiba drew his next card, but didn't even look at it.

"Blue-Eyes, attack Koukin directly!" shouted Kaiba with a loud laugh. "White Lightning!" The white dragon shot a burst of light that knocked Koukin onto his back and brought his Life Points to just 50. "This was fun, but I guess it turns out that you're just not good enough to face me."

"Come on, Koukin!" Zero pleaded. "_Please_ tell me you have a plan." Koukin got up, dusted himself off, and drew his next card.

"Don't worry, guys," he said, his eyes sparkling with confidence. "Even if I go down, I'm gonna go down fighting. Remember my old friend Strike Ninja, Kaiba?" Without waiting for an answer, Koukin slapped the card down, causing the black-clad warrior to appear instantly. "He'll be the instrument of your destruction, just you wait! Strike Ninja, attack the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and end this Duel!" Strike Ninja leapt forward, becoming nothing more than a black blur with a flashes of gold from his shuriken mask. He jumped in for a kick, but Blue-Eyes blasted him with its lightning breath, sending a sizable portion of it directly at Koukin.

"Oh, he's ending this Duel all right!" gloated Kaiba. "Thanks to your attack, you'll take 1800 points of damage, and you'll lose!"

"Now stay with me on this one," Koukin said calmly as he flipped up his face-down card. "because it's about to get complicated… but not really. I activate my Dimension Wall Trap Card!" The lightning blast neared Koukin's face, but disappeared into thin air with an eerie ripple. "This handy card can be activated when I take damage from a battle, and it lets me transfer every point of that damage to you. I told you Strike Ninja would finish this." The ripple in the air appeared in front of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and the lightning burst erupted out of it, swallowing Kaiba and his dragon and leaving Kaiba with 0 Life Points.

"This can't be happening!" yelled Kaiba. "You tricked me, you dirty cheater!"

"From one businessman to another, I'm sure you can appreciate the value of a reciprocal," Koukin replied coolly. "You threw me off so that I'd give you a mercy turn, and you almost had me, but nature is full of reciprocals. Any fraction multiplied by itself evens out to one, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and one act of deceit begets another."

"But how did you know Kaiba wouldn't summon another monster and finish you off?" Yugi asked, looking puzzled.

"It's quite simple," explained Koukin. "Most prideful people act alike, as do most people who believe that their victory is ensured. When I didn't activate Dimension Wall in response to Kaiba's Blast with Chain, Kaiba figured that my face-down card was probably useless, so he took his time. I baited him into leaving me with just enough Life Points to survive, which gave me the opportunity to finish the Duel on my terms."

"So that's why you didn't finish him with the full Blue-Eyes attack the turn before?" asked Marik. Koukin nodded.

"This… isn't… fair!" Kaiba continued, gaining no one's attention. "I'm one of the best Duelists in the world, too good to get beaten by a punk like you!"

"Yeah, well, that punk just won two of your Accolades," said Dylan gleefully. Seemingly at the mention of the prize, both Koukin's and Kaiba's Duel Disks began to glow faintly. There was a small flash of light, and the glowing stopped. Koukin opened the compartment on the top of his Duel Disk to find four Accolades, which he deposited into his tiny black and red book.

"Well, what do you know," Koukin mused with a grin. "I was right; that _was_ fun." Just then, several sets of footfalls could be heard approaching from behind the two groups. Everyone turned around to see Jaden, Syrus, Zane, and Crowler running up to them, accompanied by a man in a red suit. He had long white hair that covered his left eye, and there was a childlike gleam in his visible eye.

"Are you the one who summoned that Sacred Beast?" asked Jaden, out of breath from running across the square.

"Yeah, that was me," Koukin answered. "Why?"

"The Sacred Beasts were locked away under Duel Academy Island after Kagemaru tried to use them for his own gain," explained Zane. "It's impossible for anyone to ever get a hold of them again, yet you clearly summoned Uria, Lord of Searing Flames."

"Oh, Zane, you are so ignorant when it comes to the matters of worlds beyond," said the man with the long white hair. "Cards in our world that are one of a kind have been known to be much more common in other worlds, where they simply hold no importance."

"Pegasus!" cried Yugi in surprise. "What are you doing with Jaden and his friends?"

"Oh, hey, I thought that was you, Yugi," Jaden said, giving the King of Games a thumbs-up and a grin. "Long time, no see, huh?"

"Why, I've joined the tournament, of course!" the white-haired man exclaimed with a big smile. "How could I pass up the chance to compete with Duelists whose skills I've only barely glimpsed?"

"That doesn't explain why you're with these people, Pegasus," pointed out Kaiba. "Duel Academy doesn't even exist. For that matter, it's just a vague idea I've been kicking around in my head for the past couple of weeks."

"Kaiba, the brown-haired kid in the red blazer is from the future," Yugi explained. "He and I teamed up with a guy named Yusei to save Pegasus from a crazy Duelist who used Malefic cards."

"So, you _weren't_ makin' that up?" wondered Joey, scratching his head and wearing a dumbfounded expression.

"Of course not," Yugi replied. "but I don't get how Jaden got here, when the door to Duelia opened in our time."

"Yugi-boy, has your time with the Pharaoh taught you nothing?" chided Pegasus, wagging a finger at Yugi. "It is not only space that creates a division between worlds. In some cases, the mere passage of time can transform a world considerably. I discovered this when I still held possession of the Millennium Eye. It allowed me to see other worlds, which gave me immense insight as to the workings of the universe. On an off-hand note, you're looking quite young, Kaiba-boy."

"Creep," Kaiba muttered. "Look, all of this is very interesting; you're from the future now, other worlds, blah, blah, blah… but I've got better things to do than listen to all of your technical garbage, so I'm out of here." With that, the brown-haired tycoon turned and stalked off.

"Good riddance to him," said Joey, to the approval of Kaje and his friends.

"Anyway, Pegasus has helped us out a lot in the past," Jaden continued. "When the door appeared, and Goste announced the tournament, he was the one we called first, and now here we are."

"Unfortunately, Yuki-boy, this is where our cooperation ends," Pegasus lamented. "You're excited to start the tournament, but I've got some investigation I need to do, so I must depart. Ta-ta, everyone!" With a jaunty wave, Pegasus walked off, heading down an alley and disappearing.

"I think we should follow his lead, Professor," Zane said, turning to Crowler.

"Normally, I'd disagree on the grounds that Jaden and Syrus are my responsibility," replied Crowler. "but they're seniors now, just about to graduate, and they've handled themselves well in the past. Can you two manage to stay out of trouble?"

"What do you think?" Jaden answered with a wink. Crowler sighed, but gave the two students an understanding nod.

"Don't worry, Professor," assured Syrus. "If we get into a jam, Jaden and I can get ourselves out, no problem!"

"I'd expect nothing less from my little brother," Zane said, looking down and giving his brother one of his rare smiles before he and Crowler headed off in separate directions.

"I don't suppose you'll be sticking with us, Marik," said Yugi uncertainly. Marik considered this for a moment before answering.

"I don't see why not," he responded warmly. "It's been so long, I wouldn't want to just split off right away."

"All right!" cheered Joey. "Let's go kick some butt!"

"It was nice to meet you," Yugi said to Kaje's group. "Maybe we'll meet again before too long."

"That would be a treat," said Koukin with a nod. "I wouldn't mind beating another resident of your world." The remaining groups laughed together before Jaden approached Yugi.

"It was cool catching up, Yugi," he said, his eyes shining. "Maybe we can have a rematch sometime. I didn't get a good hand last time."

"I'm up for it whenever you are, Jaden," said Yugi, and they shook hands before Yugi, Joey, and Marik departed to the south. Jaden then turned to Koukin.

"Too bad I missed the Duel, man," he said. "Sounds like it was pretty sweet!"

"I don't know that I would've wanted to see that Sacred Beast again…" Syrus argued meekly. "It reminds of how our island almost got sunk."

"Oh, come on, Sy," pleaded Jaden. "Even then, they were pretty cool monsters."

"If you say so…" replied Syrus.

"You're welcome to come with us, if you'd like," Koukin offered, but Jaden and Syrus shook their heads.

"Nice offer, bro, but I wanna wait until the finals to meet up with you guys again," said Jaden. "There's no telling how powerful your friends are, if you threw down a Sacred Beast without batting an eye. I don't want to face off against any of you unless I _know_ I'm ready."

"I'd come with you," Syrus said sheepishly. "but if Jaden's going, I'm sticking with him. It's what best friends do. Besides, I couldn't stand missing out on the Elemental Heroes kicking all those Duelists' butts."

"You run E-Failures?" Haze asked Jaden, barely holding back a laugh.

"Yeah, and they'll help me beat you, so be prepared to get your game on!" replied Jaden confidently before he and Syrus headed off to the east.

"I guess that leaves us five," Kaje pointed out. "Where are we headed?"

"Actually, it's you four," said Haze hesitantly. "I've seen your Decks a million times before, so I wanna find some folks from other worlds and see what kinds of cards they use."

"Seems legit," Dylan said.

"Just be careful out there, Haze," cautioned Koukin.

"I will," Haze said with a grin. "You guys take care of yourselves. I want to be able to Duel one of you in the finals."

"Count on it, bro," assured Kaje. Haze gave his friends a small nod before walking off down an alley.

**0:364:22:35:17**

* * *

**In case you haven't read the first version of this story, and were wondering, the above numbers mark the remaining time in the main round of the tournament. Originally, the counter measured months and days, meaning it would read 0:00:00:00:00:00, but since not all months are equal in length, I just changed it so it measures days, hours, minutes, and seconds, beginning from one year.**

**Now that I have my design for the Duel Disks down, I need color schemes and symbols for the Duel Disk of any character you want to see in this story. Basically, I need a main color, a minor color, and a specific symbol that will be on the top of the Duel Disk. It'll become important later. Anyway, if you read this, please do review. Feedback will be much appreciated.**


	3. Bandits From Nowhere

**Chapter 3: Bandits From Nowhere**

**0:364:16:08:45**

"Whose bright idea was it to head west?" Zero asked, visibly irritated as she, Kaje, Koukin, and Dylan shuffled through the blustering winds and shifting sands that lay to the west of the City Zone, where the opening ceremony had occurred. Even in the slanting rays of the red evening sun, the heat was barely short of unmanageable, and the blowing sand wasn't really helping. Zero mopped her brow with her bare forearm, her dark blonde hair sticking to her arm as she pulled it away. "I wanted to go east, but _no_, we didn't want to end up following any of the guys we just met."

"What can I say?" replied Kaje with a tired grin. "I'm a trendsetter, not a trend-follower. Conformity is beneath me."

"Yeah, well, at least you have to suffer, too," said Zero bitterly.

"Misery loves company," Koukin pointed out, waving a giant paper fan at himself.

"Where did you even _put_ that fan before now?" asked Dylan, staring at the ornate white paper decorated with fancy black characters. "That thing's huge!"

"Because keyboard and mouse," Koukin answered, folding the fan and putting it behind his back, where it disappeared completely.

"That's not an answer!" Dylan protested, but Kaje just shook his head.

"Don't think too much about it," he said with a shrug. "Koukin's a ninja magician. As long as you're part of the audience, you'll never know how he does anything."

"See?" asked Koukin, as if concluding his point. "He gets it." Zero looked like she was about to say something, but Kaje put a hand on her shoulder, silently bidding her not to challenge their friend's logic. They continued on in silence for awhile, making their way through the seemingly endless desert as the sun maintained its downward course past the horizon.

"A-any chance w-w-we could find a t-t-t-town sometime s-soon?" Dylan asked once the sun had gone down completely. Both he and Zero were shivering violently. Surprisingly, Koukin didn't seem to be in much more discomfort than Kaje was in, despite their difference in stature.

"Yeah," agreed Zero with a shaky nod. "It's c-cold as hell out h-here!"

"Ignoring the total lack of logic in that statement, I think there's a town not too far ahead," Kaje said, pointing in the direction the group was headed. "Look!" Indeed, there was a faint light in the distance, no doubt some establishment of civilization, though its size was indeterminable through the haze created by the airborne sand.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Dylan demanded excitedly, his zeal granting him a momentary forgetfulness of the desert night's cold. "Let's go not die of hypothermia!" Before they could go much further, however, there was a sudden increase in the velocity of the wind, causing the minor shifting of the sand to become a full-blown sandstorm. This was accompanied by the presence of a blinding light that shone on the quartet of friends.

"Who turned the sun back on?!" wondered Zero frantically. The light was coming from above them, steadily increasing in intensity as it lowered, getting closer and closer to the ground. As it got closer, the sandstorm became more and more violent, until the source of the disruption was revealed to be a giant spaceship. The fuselage was as big as a house, with a dome-shaped bridge at the top and wide wings that held a dozen engines apiece. The craft hovered in place as supports dropped out of the wings and the fuselage, and a staircase opened from under the bridge.

"I'd say something like 'Wow, aliens!', but I wouldn't be all that surprised at this point," Koukin remarked as four figures descended the staircase. Like the group standing on the ground, there were three males and one female. Two of the men were stocky in build, with one being just slightly shorter than Kaje and sporting long dark hair. The other was only a little taller than his other two companions, and his hair was a short medium brown. The third male was slight in stature, with thick glasses and a curly mop of bright red hair. The woman was of a medium build, and her long hair was stark white. "I guess the whole premise of this tournament kinda ruined the question of extraterrestrials for me."

"Extraterrestrials?" asked the tallest of the strangers. "That implies that we live on a world different from your own."

"We're best described as nonterrestrials," the redhead of the group added.

"You mean you don't live on any world?" Kaje asked incredulously. "How is that possible?"

"Our world was destroyed!" answered the albino woman bitterly. "We existed in a place full of independent people who created everything they had for themselves."

"But a race of parasites took over the rest of our people," the last member of the ship's crew said. "They took everything from us, leaving us to escape in a ship we built ourselves, while the Meinar-Controllers left our world and destroyed it!"

"So in search of a new world, you found Duelia," surmised Dylan.

"That's about the gist of it," the redhead confirmed. "We travelled here in the Vibis, and we intend to win the tournament that has just started on this world."

"Why is that?" asked Zero. "It's not like winning a few card games is gonna fix your world. You could just live here, no strings attached."

"If we just wanted a place to live, we would've stopped at Traverse Town, which was about three light-years back," the tallest man replied simply. "Mass here picked up a huge energy signal coming from Duelia, though, and I think we could restore Crafting Paradise if we had a power source that big." The redhead nodded in solemn agreement.

"I'm still not understanding what the tournament has to do with this," speculated Koukin. "If there's a huge power source here, just look for it."

"The energy source wasn't centralized," said the redhead, apparently called Mass. "Air was the one who discovered the tournament, and she suggested that we join the contest to find out why that is."

"That's why I'm the information specialist," the woman replied confidently. "I've already gathered enough information to learn how this Duel Monsters game is played, and Piston, Reboot, and Mass in turn learned from me."

"We are experts in theory," explained the shorter of the dark-haired men. "It is unfortunate that we've had to use force to acquire Decks, but the three Duelists we took them from will recover. Now Piston is the only one without a Deck."

"Well, you're not beating the crap out of any of us for our cards!" Dylan protested. At this, Reboot merely laughed.

"If we were going to do that, we would have chased you down with the Vibis," he said with a wave of his hand. "After spying on the aliens that destroyed our world, we came very close to mimicking their weapons. The difference between our weapons and their Dracon beams is if you get shot with ours, you live."

"Kinda," pointed out the taller man, called Piston.

"Either way, we're going to win our last Deck, fair and square," Mass said, holding up his arm. On it was an iron-gray Duel Disk with a red insignia depicting the profile of a running wolf.

"What the hell are you getting at?!" demanded Zero. "You honestly expect one of us to wager our Deck against you?"

"Not unless you don't think you can win," Air said with a grin. Zero's face became red as her left eye twitched. Before the blonde could say anything, Kaje stepped in front of his friends, his arm up and ready with a silver Duel Disk. The image on the top showed seven crystal shapes, each shining in one of the colors of the rainbow.

"I'll represent our group," he volunteered calmly. "If you can beat me, you can take my Deck, and two Accolades."

"Are you _nuts_, Kaje?" asked Dylan, his jaw slack in surprise. "What if they meta the hell out of you? You'd lose your cards!"

"Somehow, I don't think many of the other worlds know about the metagame," Kaje answered. "Besides, if I win, we've showed them a thing or two. If I lose, they have another chance to bring their world back and save their people from the parasites."

"We might want to check him for a concussion…" Zero muttered.

"I believe in him," said Koukin. "He may have fallen for Magic Cylinder back in Ketto Sekai, but Kaje is a skilled Duelist. We should have faith in our friend."

"I guess you're right…" Dylan admitted.

"Thanks, guys," said Kaje amiably. "Now, who will face me?"

"That'd be me," Reboot said. Mass looked disappointed, but he stepped back to let his comrade take his place. Reboot held up his Duel Disk, a maroon number with a red and white circle that resembled the top of a parasol. Kaje opened the top of his Duel Disk and inserted two of his Accolades.

"Let's Duel!" both combatants shouted, causing their Duel Disks to activate.

"Just to let you know what you're getting into, I'll go first," said Kaje, drawing six cards. "First, I activate the Spell Card called Crystal Tree!" As the card slid under one of the white spaces on Kaje's field, a bare tree sprung up in front of him.

"Take note, Piston," Mass advised. "You're gonna need to know how to use your new Deck."

"Next, I'll summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!" Kaje announced. A blue gem floated in front of the tree, and then turned into a white horse with a deep blue horn jutting out of its forehead. It spread a pair of magnificent white wings decorated with a pair of blue stones and reared briefly onto its hind legs, letting loose a mighty bray as its Attack Points display materialized, reading 1800. "Once my Pegasus has been summoned, I can activate its special ability and place a Crystal Beast from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard into my Spell and Trap Card Zone."

"I've never heard of a monster going into the Spell and Trap Card Zone…" muttered Air, taking out a device with a large screen and tapping on card icons. "Most monsters only do that when they're being equipped to other monsters using card effects."

"You'll find that the Crystal Beasts are quite special, indeed," Kaje confirmed. "Now, for my selection, I think I'll take the Ruby Carbuncle from my Deck and place it on the field." A red jewel appeared in a flash of light, and a sparkling apple grew suddenly from one of the tree's branches. "As for that piece of crystal fruit, my Crystal Tree grows one of those fruits whenever a Crystal Beast enters the field in its gem form. I'll show you what that means, later, but for now, I'll place a card face-down and end my turn."

"My turn," said Reboot confidently. "I'll place a monster face-down, a Spell or Trap Card face-down, and I'll activate the Everliving Underworld Cannon!" A giant cannon made of bones assembled in front of Reboot. "That's all for me, so make your move."

"Everliving Underworld Cannon, huh?" Kaje wondered. "Sounds like the zombie apocalypse could be upon me if I'm not careful."

"That's right," confirmed Piston. "Reboot here is the master of the undead. Back on our homeworld, no zombie would dare attack him. Even the Wither let him pass through the Nether without trouble."

"Well, I suppose I should fight my hardest, then," Kaje said with a grin. "Now, it's my turn, so I'll place my own monster face-down and have my Pegasus attack your monster! Go, Sapphire Pegasus! Attack with Blue Blitz!" The white horse flapped its magnificent wings and flew through the air, trampling the card in front of Reboot. It turned over, revealing a turtle with a pyramid for a shell. Sapphire Pegasus reared back and ran its shimmering horn through the turtle, causing it to explode in a shower of pixels.

"When you destroy my Pyramid Turtle, I can Special Summon a Zombie-type monster from my Deck," informed Reboot. "The only stipulation is that the monster I select must have 2000 Defense Points or less. Luckily, that condition is met by every single monster in my Deck."

"Oh, man," Koukin commented. "With a setup like that, monster combos will be a piece of cake for that guy."

"I knew he was a madman!" insisted Dylan. "No sane person would put that much on the line, and now he's facing a Deck that can pump out monsters as fast as the Crystal Beasts can."

"You always have to be careful which challenges you make, and which ones you accept," Reboot said sagely. "In any case, the monster I've selected is the mighty Il Blud!" A corpulent humanoid figure in a striped suit appeared. Its head was a dark mass with round, glittering eyes and wild spiked hair. As it waddled forward, an Attack Points display appeared above it that read 2100. "Now for the effect of my Everliving Underworld Cannon." The mouth of the bone structure was filled by a glowing spherical skull, which was immediately launched in Kaje's direction. He brought up his arm to block the projectile, but it exploded on contact and took his Life Points down to 7200.

"Well, I suppose that wasn't terrible…" said Kaje bleakly. "I'll end my turn there."

"Now that it's my turn, I'm going to Normal Summon my Il Blud," Reboot announced.

"Hang on!" demanded Zero. "You can't summon a monster after it's already been put on the field!"

"You can when it's a Gemini Monster," Koukin pointed out. "While on the field and in the Graveyard, they're treated as Normal Monsters, then you can summon them again to give them a special ability."

"That's right," agreed Reboot. "And now I'm doing that to Il Blud." As he said this, the zipper on the front of the monster's suit burst open to reveal a sneering undead face. It wriggled out of the suit, revealing the puny arms and legs that matched the skin tone of the face. "Now that Il Blud is an Effect Monster, I'll activate its ability to Special Summon a Zombie-type monster from my hand! I summon Vampire Lord!" A blue-haired man appeared from a coffin that rose from the ground. He spread his arms to show the bat-winged cape he wore as his Attack Points display appeared, showing a value of 2000. "Now, I think you know what's coming next," Reboot continued as a new skull grew in the cannon behind Vampire Lord. "My Underworld Cannon smacks you with another 800 points of damage. Fire!" The skull was launched at Kaje, causing his Life Points to fall to 6400. "Now for the fun part: Il Blud, attack Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!" The two-faced monster waddled forward and opened its mouth wide.

"Not so fast!" Kaje interrupted. "I activate my face-down card, Rainbow Path! By sending my Ruby from the Spell and Trap Card Zone to the Graveyard, I can negate your Il Blud's attack and add a Rainbow Dragon from my Deck to my hand." The red gem disappeard, and a prismatic sphere popped up in front of Il Blud. A swirl of colored light enveloped the gruesome monster, turning it around and around until it was sent running back to Reboot's side.

"That's fine, because I can still attack with my Vampire Lord," said Reboot as the dapper vampire rose into the air and swooped down at Sapphire Pegasus. He sank his fangs deep into the majestic horse's neck, causing it to dissolve into pixels and reform as a blue gem as Kaje's Life Points took a hit and stopped at 6200. A blue cluster of berries also appeared on a branch of the Crystal Tree. "Now, since I've inflicted Battle Damage to you with Vampire Lord, I can choose a card type, and you'll have to send a card of that type from your Deck to the Graveyard. I select Monster Card!"

"Oh, no…" Kaje remarked sarcastically. "I'll send my Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat to the Graveyard. Is it my turn?"

"Yeah," replied Reboot simply, a look of disappointment on his face. "I thought making you get rid of a monster would put you in a bad spot…"

"Ha ha ha, no," Kaje answered, drawing his next card. "I activate the effect of my Crystal Tree! I send it to the Graveyard to bring a Crystal Beast gemstone from my Deck to the field for each piece of fruit on the tree's branches." The tree's fruits dropped from the branches as the plant itself withered and disappeared. "I select Amber Mammoth and Topaz Tiger to join my crystallized Pegasus." As Kaje slid the cards into place, two stones appeared next to the blue one that was already floating behind the face-down monster; one orange, and one yellow. "Now, I'll activate a Spell Card known as Crystal Promise!" announced Kaje. "It allows me to grant an animal form to one of the Crystal Beasts on my field that are trapped in jewel form. I select my Sapphire Pegasus, so say hello to him again!" In a flash of bright blue light, the winged horse was once again present, this time shielding itself with its wings as a Defense Points display appeared over its head, reading 1200. "Now, with its effect, I'll bring Cobalt Eagle to the field in its gemstone state." Where the sapphire had been appeared a bluish-purple stone. "Now for a change of scenery! I activate the Field Spell Card 'Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins!'" Suddenly, the darkness of the desert night turned into a bright sunny day with fluffy white clouds overhead. As a rainbow spread across the sky, a coliseum rose from the sand. Five torches adorned the wall behind Kaje, and three of them lit up in colors that matched the jewels on the field. "With that, I'll end my turn."

"Whatever that does, I'm not about to let you keep it for long!" Reboot shouted defiantly. "I activate my face-down card, Mystical Space Typhoon!" As the card flipped up, a tremendous funnel of lightning and water opened up, aimed for Keje's Duel Disk. When it cleared, nothing had changed.

"Impossible!" sputtered Mass. "Mystical Space Typhoon destroys a Spell or Trap Card, and Reboot clearly targeted that Field Spell!"

"That's the beauty of this stadium," Kaje explained. "For each Crystal Beast gemstone that I control, this mystical edifice gains a special power. The first power, by the way, is unconditional protection from destruction by card effects. I'm afraid you've wasted your card, Reboot."

"Fine," said Reboot as he drew his next card. "If I can't destroy it with card effects, I'll use the game's rules to my advantage. I activate a Field Spell of my own! Go, Zombie World!" Gravestones began to rise up from the floor of the coliseum, but they all shattered as Sapphire Pegasus spread its wings and began flying around, eventually flying straight into the Graveyard slot of Kaje's Duel Disk. "What's going on _now_?!"

"The third power granted to me by my Rainbow Ruins," said Kaje calmly. "I can negate the activation of a Spell or Trap Card you play as long as I send a Crystal Beast with an animal form to my Graveyard."

"This is becoming very tiresome," Reboot grumbled. "Fine! If I can't take out your Field Spell, I'll just have to overwhelm you with damage! I use the effect of Il Blud to Special Summon a Zombie from my hand, and this time, it's the mighty Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon!" As Reboot set the card down, a black dragon flew down from the sky and landed next to Il Blud. It opened its mouth wide and roared, revealing rows of rotting teeth as a black aura rose like foul smoke from its wide wings. An Attack Points display appeared above it, reading 2400. "Now, my cannon will slam you with even more damage!" Another glowing skull was fired at Kaje, sending his Life Points ticking down to 5400. "Now, I'm going to transform my Vampire Lord into something much more frightening! Rise, Vampire Genesis!" The blue-haired monster hunched over as he grew, his face contorting and his cape fusing to his back and splitting into two halves. As the transformation completed, the resulting monster stood upright to reveal its more beastly appearance, its face resembling that of a bat, and a pair of leathery bat's wings flapping where the cape had been. It let out a hideous screech as an Attack Points display materialized, reading 3000. "To ensure your demise, I'm activating the Spell Card called Solidarity! As long as I only have one type of monster in my Graveyard, all monsters of that type on my side of the field gain 800 Attack Points!" A black aura shone from Reboot's Graveyard, enveloping his monsters. Il Blud's Attack Points display changed to read 2900, Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon had a total of 3200, and Vampire Genesis sported 3800. "All right, there's no way any monster you have face-down can survive this! Il Blud, get his monster now!" The corpulent mutant hustled forward, flipping the card over and revealing a turtle with green spires of glimmering stone sticking out of its shell. Its Defense Points display read 2000, which was nowhere near enough. Il Blud began to bite down on the jewel-encrusted shell savagely, tearing the monster into pieces before it reverted into a shining emerald and floated backward to join the other gems. "Let's see your Field Spell save you now! Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon, have at him!" The decaying dragon flew forward and shot a stream of black flames at Kaje, taking his Life Points down to 2200.

"It was foolish for that man to challenge us," Air commented. "One more attack, and he's finished."

"I can't believe Kaje let himself get backed into such a corner," said Zero, staring thoughtfully at the field.

"Don't count him out just yet," Koukin assured her. "I'm sure Kaje has at least a couple more tricks up his sleeve."

"For his sake, I hope so…" Zero replied. "What's he gonna do without a Deck if he loses?"

"Probably be stuck at three Accolades permanently," conjectured Dylan. "He'd make it to the finals, but he wouldn't be able to compete unless he can scrape together another forty cards."

"You had a lot of confidence when you challenged me," Reboot gloated. "I wonder how much you'll have after this. Vampire Genesis, finish him off!" The monstrous bat-creature flew at lightning speed, latching onto Kaje and sinking its teeth into his neck. Several strings of 1's and 0's bled from the wound as Kaje's Life Points began to drop.

"I'm… activating the second… power of my Rainbow Ruins!" said Kaje, struggling to stay conscious from the vicious draining of the vampire. "With that power, I can cut the damage from one attack in half!" The bleeding numbers slowed to a halt, and Kaje's Life Points reached a halt at just 300.

"A close call," mused Reboot with a grin. "Fair enough that you should get one final chance to defeat me. After all, you haven't damaged me once in this Duel."

"Oh, man," Dylan worried. "If Kaje can't pull a miracle out of his Deck, he'll be kissing it good-bye."

"He's absolutely right," agreed Reboot. "Now, draw your last pathetic card."

"My Deck has no pathetic cards!" defended Kaje. "Not even Ruby Carbuncle, because each monster has a special value that at least one Duelist can turn into a great power!" He drew his card, and looked nonplussed.

"What's the matter?" taunted Reboot. "Didn't draw anything that'll net you some great power?"

"Not yet, but that's why I have my Rainbow Ruins!" Kaje responded. "With its fourth power, I can draw an extra card once per turn, so here goes!" He drew his next card, and his eyes lit up. "Now maybe you'll believe me when I say that any Duelist who trusts in his Deck can achieve victory. I activate the Crystal Abundance Spell Card!" The four jewels in front of Kaje swirled around, creating a tornado of color that grew and grew, until it engulfed the entire field. It became so powerful that even the walls of the coliseum collapsed and were absorbed by the storm of light. When it cleared, five swirling portals appeared in front of Kaje, but nothing else remained.

"W-what have you done?!" Reboot demanded, his eyes wide with trepidation.

"I wiped the field," explained Kaje with a smirk. "You see, since I had four Crystal Beast gems on my field, I was able to activate that Spell Card and send every card on the field to the Graveyard. These portals represent the number of cards on your side that I was able to remove. Each of these portals paves the way for a Crystal Beast in my Graveyard to be reborn, so I'll bring out Amethyst Cat, Cobalt Eagle, Topaz Tiger, Amber Mammoth, and Sapphire Pegasus." Through each portal stepped a different animal. First, a mauve cat wearing a collar that was studded with a large purple stone; next, a great bird with bluish-purple wings, each decorated with a matching gem. Third was a white tiger with glittering yellow eyes; after that, an enormous gray elephant with orange eyes and wildly curved tusks. Last to emerge was the brilliant white horse, bringing with it the red gem it had brought at the beginning of the Duel.

"This can't be!" Reboot protested. "With just one card, you've taken all of my monsters and left me powerless!"

"That would be the idea," affirmed Kaje. "Now, Amethyst Cat has 1200 Attack Points. Add that to Sapphire's 1800, Cobalt's 1400, Topaz's 1600, and Amber's 1700, and you have a grand total of 7700. Know what that means?"

"It means it's time for a Crystal Beast stampede!" Zero chipped in excitedly. "Go get 'im, Kaje!"

"With your blessing, my friend," Kaje said with a grin. "Go, my Crystal Beasts! Let's even the score, shall we?" All five of the large Duelist's monsters charged forward, creating a cacophony of cries as they crushed Reboot and left him with 300 Life Points. "For my next trick, I'll give myself a little insurance, in case you're still feeling a little cocky. I equip my Amber Mammoth with the Crystal Release Spell Card." Seven brilliant-cut gems circled around the massive monster, causing it to glow as its Attack Points rose to 2500.

"Why didn't you do that before you attacked?!" asked Reboot frantically. "You could have finished me."

"I thought it only fair that you get a final chance to defeat me," Kaje mocked. "So, draw your last pathetic card."

"That's… _it!_" Reboot bellowed. "I will _not_ be mimicked by a novice! I have studied _all_ of the rules,_ all_ of the clauses! I am an expert in Duel theory!" He drew his card, and his eyes glinted maliciously. "I summon Vampire Lady, in Attack Mode!" A coffin rose up in front of Reboot, opening to reveal a shapely teal-skinned woman with green hair. She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the coffin, standing up and smoothing out a few wrinkles from her purple dress as her Attack Points display formed, reading 1550. "With this monster, I'll have just enough power to take you down. Vampire Lady, devour that Amethyst Cat!" The green-haired vampire bared her fangs and leapt forward. However, at the last second, Amber Mammoth intercepted the attack, and Vampire Lady's hit one of its powerful tusks. "What trickery is this?!" Reboot howled.

"It's the special power of my Amber Mammoth," Kaje said smugly. "When you attack a Crystal Beast, Amber Mammoth can charge in and take the hit. Normally, that just means I take less damage, but this time, it's a matter of victory and loss." As Kaje spoke, Vampire Lady's fangs began to crumble, followed by the rest of her body. This was coupled with a growing ball of light that formed inside her mouth as Reboot's Life Points began to tick down.

"Piston, _now!_" shouted Reboot as the ball of light exploded into a blinding burst.

"Wait, where _did_ that taller guy go?" wondered Dylan.

"Kaje, behind you!" Koukin yelled. Before he, Dylan, Zero, or especially Kaje could react, however, Piston dashed up to Kaje and delivered a quick jab to the back of the giant's neck. Kaje began to fall forward, so Piston followed with a sweeping kick that changed his adversary's direction, allowing the Meinar to grab hold of the silver Duel Disk and press a button. The Dueling instrument reverted to its simple idle shape, and a compartment opened that contained Kaje's Deck. In a flash, the Deck was in Piston's hand, and he was sprinting toward his friends.

"Get back here you bastard!" ordered Zero. She ran forward, but Reboot pressed a button on a remote he had pulled from one of his pockets, and a force field sprang up between the advancing blonde and the group of wanderers, surrounding their enormous spaceship.

"I wish we could've done this legitimately," said Reboot. "but we cannot afford to take risks. Our world must be restored. The Yeerks cannot win." With that, he, Piston, Mass, and Air retreated up the staircase and back into the Vibis. The engines fired up, the supports folded into the ship, and the force field disappeared. Within a few seconds, Kaje and his friends were once again pitched into the darkness of the cold desert night.

**0:364:12:23:57**

* * *

**My apologies for the length of this chapter. I thought the Duel was going to turn out to be as epic as the last one, but the Decks I was using are both very fast-paced if played correctly. As a matter of fact, I didn't even get to introduce a part of the story that I wanted to dedicate this entire chapter to! Oh, well… I'll work it in at some point. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you read, please do leave a review.**


	4. Changing the Game

**Chapter 4: Changing the Game**

**0:364:10:47:29**

"I still can't believe the nerve of that guy!" fumed Zero as she, Kaje, Koukin, and Dylan finally trudged onto a path of hard-packed sand that marked the limits of a small town. "First, he steals your Deck, and then he lacks the balls to take a good hard punch in the face for it!"

"Zero, I'm glad you've got my back, but you've been going on about how wrong Reboot acted for the past hour and a half…" Kaje sighed, leaning on a sign that read **WELCOME TO RAPLAIQ TOWN**. Atop the sign was a screen displaying the remaining time for the tournament, its white numbers ticking away tirelessly. The town itself wasn't much; it had a sizable inn, a card shop, what appeared to be a small grocery, and perhaps three or four snug-looking houses. "I've been walking for, like, eight hours. Not to mention said wrongdoing that occurred, so I'd like to just get some rest and start fresh tomorrow."

"Start fresh with _what?_" pondered Dylan. "It's not like you brought any of your spare Decks with you."

"I gotta side with him on this one," Koukin agreed. "I told you that you should probably grab your Volcanics or one of those annoying stall Decks, but—"

"But God forbid he listen when he's trying to hurry," chipped in Zero.

"Emphasis on 'trying to'," Kaje retorted with a weak grin. "You guys are right, I'm not denying that. All I'm saying is that maybe I can build a new Deck with cards from the shop tomorrow."

"I suppose that could work," mused Koukin. "You'd be at the mercy of whatever they'll let you have for free, but I've seen you Duel pretty well with worse odds." Dylan and Zero nodded, and the four of them headed down the path to the building marked as the inn. Despite being such a small town, Raplaiq was littered with streetlamps, allowing the group to identify the building easily. Inside the inn was a single hallway, in the middle of which stood a cramped-looking reception desk. Behind the desk sat a bald man in white clothes, looking sleepy and none too comfortable, given that his girth took up nearly all of the space allotted by the desk. "Excuse me," Koukin said politely. "but is there room for four here?"

"Is there room?" answered the bald man with a snort. "You get your pick of the rooms! Nobody bothers to stay in a little podunk town like Raplaiq. They all want to get to the big city." He said the last two words with a heavy slathering of derision.

"Why would anyone bother walking even farther just to get to a bigger place?" Dylan asked. "It looks like this place has everything it needs." This seemed to soften the man's mood just slightly. His expression eased, and he brought out eight simple silver keys.

"There are four rooms on each side," the man explained. "You'll find a room on either side of me, two rooms on each side if you turn the corner at either end of the hallway, and two rooms at the back." The man indicated a sign on the door to his left that was emblazoned with the number 1, and the door to his right that was marked by the number 8. "Each of you, go ahead and take a key, and return 'em before you leave the building. Don't hesitate to call the front desk here if you need anything."

"Thank you very much," Koukin said before taking the key marked with the number 3. Zero took the key marked with a 5, Dylan took the key to Room 7, and Kaje, who was barely standing, grabbed the key marked 8 in a big limp hand.

"So do we owe you anything for our stay?" asked Zero.

"Not at all," the bald man said, his voice still gruff, but a tad warmer than it had been when they had first arrived. "We couldn't charge money from outworlders when they've barely got any money to speak of."

"Well, that's a relief," said Dylan as he walked off toward the end of the hall. Koukin walked silently to his side of the inn, and Kaje opened the door to Room 8 and went inside without another word.

"What do you think he meant about us barely having any money?" Zero whispered to Dylan as they approached Dylan's room.

"I don't know," replied Dylan with a shrug. "Maybe Accolades are contest pieces to us, but the people who live in this world trade them for money."

"I guess," Zero said doubtfully. "but if that's the case, why wouldn't Goste tell us that we were wagering this world's money?"

"Who knows?" countered Dylan in an exaggerated suspenseful voice. "I'll think about later, but first I gotta go conk out for awhile."

"Good idea," Zero agreed, and walked off toward her room at the back of the inn.

x—x

"I can't believe this is _all_ they have…" muttered Kaje, his voice still muddy with sleep. After a long sleep, he had awakened and trudged out of the inn, placing his key on the reception desk with a scrawled note to his friends on a Post-It from the nightstand drawer in his room. Now, the giant stood at the glass display case in the card shop, perusing through the collection of common cards, mostly Normal Monsters with low Attack Points and situational Trap Cards. "What am I supposed to do with any of this?"

"You'd be surprised what you can do with random cards," said the clerk, a pretty blonde woman in her mid-thirties dressed in a white blouse with long loose sleeves and a long white skirt. "In some worlds, they don't even have cards that match up with each other. You just have to grab what works with this or that and hope for the best. Some say those Decks are the strongest, as a matter of fact."

"Well, that's all well and good," Kaje replied, as kindly as he could. "but that's not the way I usually prefer to play. If I could make my own cards, this wouldn't be a problem."

"Sadly, this little shop doesn't have that amenity," said the clerk with an optimistic smile. "You'd have to go all the way to Desolas to get your own cards made, and I hear that's not exactly free."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaje asked, trying not to sound demanding.

"No one's really been too clear about it," supplied the clerk, scratching her chin. "though I seriously doubt any store would have contestants pay any money, so it's a total mystery to me."

"Hmm…" contemplated Kaje. "Clearly, I can't make anything from the cards here, so I guess my best bet is to go to… what was it, Desolas?"

"Yes, sir," the clerk responded, clearly attempting not to be resentful. "It's one of the biggest cities in the Desert Zone. Just a trek west, and you're there."

"Thank you, ma'am," said Kaje as he turned to leave. When he stepped outside, he was greeted by his three friends.

"Any luck finding new cards?" Zero asked, to which Kaje just shook his head.

"Their selection can't be _that_ bad," insisted Koukin. He looked through the glass door at the display case, and quickly turned his back. "Okay, that's pretty terrible."

"You'd have to find at least five shops like this one to build a decent Deck with selections like that," Dylan added.

"I'd lend you Yubel or Seven if I could," offered Koukin. "You know, if I had brought them."

"Luckily, that's not quite necessary," said Kaje. "There's a big city called Desolas, just west of this town."

"So, more desert traveling?" Zero asked, clearly not looking forward to such a prospect. Kaje nodded, and she sighed. "Well, this time, we're stocking up on supplies before we head out."

"Fair enough," agreed Kaje. The four friends located the building whose hand-crafted sign declared it to be a grocery, and walked inside. There was a refrigerated section with large bottles of milk, juice, and water, as well as a small stand of produce, and one wall was lined with shelves containing backpacks and other travel supplies. A counter at the back where various baked goods, cheeses, and meats were on display. Behind the counter were two people wearing white gloves and aprons over their plain-looking white attire. One was a plump, tan-skinned woman with curly dark hair. The other was a bony-looking man with a tangled bunch of gray hair.

"What's with this place and people wearing white?" Dylan asked to no one in particular.

"In many cultures, wearing a uniform color is usually a tradition backed by history or religion," offered Koukin. "I've never seen a whole town do it, though. Usually, it's a monastery or other sacred place that practices such a thing."

"Maybe they just can't afford other colors of clothing," Zero said.

"Either way, let's get some food for the road, so we can head toward Desolas," suggested Kaje. They walked to the shelves of traveling equipment and selected backpacks, then to the produce stand.

"Dude, you can buy that stuff that comes inside of cactuses!" Dylan exclaimed, holding up a wrapped cylinder of a green plant that appeared to have had spines at some point.

"It's pronounced cacti," corrected Kaje.

"Your face is prounounced cacti," Zero shot back, amiably enough.

"No, your face is pronounced your face," interjected Koukin.

"However you pronounce it, I'm getting one," Dylan bragged, tucking the cylinder under his arm. Each of them took a bottle of water, and Zero selected some fruits and vegetables, after having found a stack of baskets near the front door for carrying goods. The group then headed to the counter, where they were greeted by the old man.

"What can I get for ya?" he asked in a raspy but kind voice. "I'd tell you that we've got a sale on our fresh armadillo steaks, but the world's a sale to contestants, isn't it?" The words would have seemed bitter, were it not for the chuckle that followed.

"Who cooks armadillo meat?" asked Kaje, sounding quite apprehensive.

"When you live in a small town, you make the most out of what's around ya," the man replied tolerantly. "Not everyone gets stocked by the big boys in the City Zone, y'know."

"I hadn't thought of that," Kaje said apologetically.

"Not like steaks are really relevant," pointed out Koukin. "We're about to be going on a journey, so probably dried meats and bread will be the most we want to carry."

"Smart thinkin' there, boy," the man said with a grin. He turned from the group and spoke to the woman behind the counter with him, then came back with two large paper sacks. "This should last the four of ya for a few days. Hopefully you don't run out before you get where you're goin' to."

"It shouldn't be that bad," Zero assured him. "I don't think anything could be worse than forgetting to bring water for our walk to this town."

"Oh, believe me," said the man, his eyes glinting. "In the desert, there're plenty of worse things." After thanking the man for the supplies, the four friends packed their backpacks and exited the store, which was near the edge of Raplaiq.

"Well, here's to God knows how long of walking in endless, monotonous sands," Kaje muttered, looking down at the end of the path. "At least until we get to Desolas, that is."

"Did I just hear you say you were going to Desolas?" asked a voice from in front of them. Kaje looked up to see a short boy with shaggy green hair. The boy wore a pale blue button-up shirt with rolled-up sleeves and the top few buttons open, as well as a pair of tight blue jeans. "I just came from Desolas, actually. Are you going there to try and win the Desolas Cup?"

"That wasn't our intention until just now," Koukin said with a glimmer of anticipation in his eyes.

"I see," said the boy with a smirk. "My name's Joshua, by the way."

"Hah!" Dylan shouted. "I _knew_ he'd be here somewhere!"

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" asked Joshua, scratching his head in puzzlement. "I must admit, if we have, I don't remember your face. Although, the four of you _do_ sort of look like the kind of people I might hang around with."

"I think he's got you confused with someone else," Kaje explained, looking embarrassed. "The name's Kaje, and these are my friends, Zero, Dylan, and Koukin." He indicated each person for Joshua's benefit.

"If I might be so bold," began Koukin. "may I inquire as to why you left Desolas before their contest began?"

"I've got my own game to play," Joshua replied with a laugh. "You see, I'm from a world called Shibuya's Phantom, and I escaped here to try and avoid the Reapers' Game. Unfortunately, it seems as though all I've done is prolong my fate, endanger my friends, and lose sight of whatever the goal is of this mission."

"Mission?" asked Zero. Joshua nodded and turned his right arm to show the group. Between his wrist and the inside of his elbow was a timer that matched the one posted over the entrance sign to Raplaiq, second for second.

"In the Reapers' Game, we're given a series of missions to complete," he explained, gaining the unmistakable air of a know-it-all. "Those who fail the missions face erasure – complete obliteration at the hand of the Reapers. Normally, these missions are issued every day, and the time limit is only about an hour or so."

"But the timer on your arm is the same as the tournament's timer…" Kaje contemplated. "Do you think it's a sort of glitch in the Reapers' Game?"

"Possibly," admitted Joshua. "It's either that, or the Reapers intercepted my escape from their world. They couldn't stop me from leaving, but they could give me one last mission. Have a look at this." He fished around in one of his jeans pockets until he brought out a small flip-phone. He opened it and accessed the mail function, where a message was displayed.

"'The gloves are off forever'," Koukin read. "'It's time to Duel, until your time's up. – The Reapers'. So part of the Reapers' Game is based on solving riddles sent through text messages?"

"Precisely," confirmed Joshua. "Assuming the Reapers were able to manipulate my escape, as well as that of my friends, I can only conclude that my objective is to make it to the final round of this competition. At least they didn't leave me without cards to use."

"What do you mean?" asked Dylan.

"Yeah, and where are your friends?" Zero added. "Wouldn't they be with you?"

"Oh, they're with me," Joshua assured her. "Would you like to meet them?"

"You know what they say," said Dylan. "The more, the merrier."

"I concur," Joshua said with a smirk. "In light of that, I'd like to propose a Duel." He held up his left arm, showing off a black Duel Disk with a stylized skull on it.

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Dylan skeptically. This only brought a laugh from Joshua.

"Trust me, it does," he said confidently. "You kind of remind of my friend Neku, but you'll see why pretty soon."

"All right, I'll bite," Dylan replied with an exasperated expression.

"I beg your pardon?" asked Joshua, once again looking puzzled. "Does that mean you'll be my opponent, Dylan?"

"Yes," Dylan confirmed. "Yes, it does. How many Accolades will you bet on this?"

"Oh, I wasn't aware that you wanted to put stakes on this Duel," said Joshua in surprise. "Well, I really only need one to stay in the tournament, right? That's all I have to do to complete the Reapers' objective, so I'll put down four Accolades. That'll leave me with five still, and you can almost double your total."

"Wait, you weren't aware that he wanted to bet Accolades, but you knew he only had five of them?" Zero asked dubiously. "How would you know something like that?"

"Let's just say that being a part of the Reapers' Game comes with certain perks."

"Seems legit," said Koukin, not being clear on whether or not he was being sincere.

"I don't wanna bet all but one of my Accolades!" Dylan protested, as if he'd been holding it in while his friends had been questioning Joshua.

"Fair enough," said Joshua kindly. "As the challenged Duelist, I reserve the right to determine the terms of the wager. I've already got nine Accolades, so any further acquisition is fine by me. Put down however many pieces you'd like, Dylan."

"Good," said Dylan with a sigh of relief. "I'm only putting down one." The compartment in his Duel Disk opened, and he slipped in one of the tiny gems. Joshua did the same, and the compartments disappeared.

"That's quite a nice Duel Disk, by the way," Joshua complimented, admiring the forest green disk emblazoned with a golden snake's eye.

"Oh, thanks," replied Dylan, a bit taken aback. "Now…"

"Let's Duel!" shouted both participants, causing their Duel Disks to open. The spaces on Joshua's were a predictable white that matched the skull symbol, while Dylan's were a royal blue. The Life Points were set to 8000, and each Duelist drew his cards.

"If you don't mind, I'll go first," said Joshua politely, drawing his sixth card. "First, I'll summon Player Shiki, in Attack Mode." In a burst of light, a tall, slender girl appeared. She wore a red shirt that cut off high up on her midriff and a very short green denim skirt with a brown pouch strapped to it, as well as brown knee-length boots and an open yellow hoodie. Her shoulder-length, reddish-brown hair was partially concealed by a black-and-white cap. As her Attack Points display appeared, showing 1200, a look of terror spread across her face.

"Where am I?!" she shouted, much to the surprise of Dylan and his friends.

"Since when do Duel Monsters talk?" Koukin wondered calmly.

"Watch who you're calling a monster, mister!" shouted the girl, still sounding hysterical.

"My apologies," Koukin said with a bow.

"Dylan, Koukin, Zero, and Kaje, this is my good friend Shiki Misaki," introduced Joshua with a laugh. "Shiki, you may not be a monster, but the card you're trapped in _is_ classified as a Monster Card."

"Oh," Shiki said simply, blinking a couple times. "Wait, _what?!_ Why am I trapped in a card?"

"It's my theory that the Reapers trapped you all inside of Duel Monsters cards when we escaped from Shibuya's Phantom," Joshua summated. "They most likely did it for the purpose of limiting our chances of succeeding in their modified challenge."

"So this is all a Reaper trick…" thought Shiki out loud. "Well, if they insist on following us, we'll just have to beat them at their own game!"

"Agreed," Joshua answered with a grin. "That being said, I'll place three cards face-down and end my turn."

"Look at all those Spell and Trap Cards," observed Dylan. "I summon Alexandrite Dragon, in Attack Mode!" A white dragon decorated with various precious stones flew in as an Attack Points display appeared over its head, reading 2000. "Now, Alexandrite Dragon, attack Player Shiki!" The dragon flapped its wings and flew forward, raking its clawed feet forward toward the redhead.

"Aaaahhh!" screamed Shiki, bringing her hands up to try and protect her face. "Joshua, help me! I don't want to die!"

"Already on it," Joshua assured her. "I activate the Trap Card called Noise Combat!" A card depicting an orange-haired boy fighting a group of strange frog creatures flipped up, and the Attack Points displays changed suddenly. In their places floated new displays that showed two values each, marked "COM" and "HP".

"What's going on here?" asked Dylan. "What happened to our monsters?"

"I've changed the rules," Joshua explained. "You see, in our world, we fight creatures called Noise. This card allows us to battle each other as though we're fighting the Noise. Instead of Attack Points, our monsters – or your monsters and my Players – have Combat Points. Instead of Defense Points, they have Health Points. As you know, the monster with the higher Attack Points wins the battle. The same applies here, as does Battle Damage done to our Life Points. However, instead of destroying each other's cards, the difference in Combat Points is deducted from the losing side's Health Points. A monster is only destroyed when its Health Points decrease to zero." Shiki's Health Points registered as 1100, and Alexandrite Dragon's appeared as 100. "Now, since your dragon has 800 more Combat Points than Shiki does, she'll lose 800 Health Points, and I'll take 800 damage." Shiki was slashed viciously by Dylan's dragon's claws, and her Health Points dropped to 300. Joshua's Life Points spiraled down to 7200.

"Well, this isn't too bad," said Dylan passively. "I can still destroy your monsters, and do more damage while I'm at it."

"Stop calling me a monster!" Shiki protested, her bottom lip quivering slightly. "I'm very sensitive!"

"Clearly she's an actual person," insisted Kaje. "I'm not one to question weird circumstances, given our own. Treat the lady right, Dylan."

"Sorry," Dylan said flatly.

"Thank you," responded Shiki, smiling at Kaje. Kaje nodded and gestured toward Dylan to continue.

"I set a face-down and end my turn." Dylan concluded.

"During your End Phase, I activate another Trap Card," informed Joshua. "It's called Making a Pact." Shiki's face lit up as the card flipped up, showing a bony hand and one with slender, elegant fingers, engaging in a handshake. "If I control a Player, I can Special Summon another one from my Deck, but I can't do this if I control an even number of Players, and I can't Normal Summon during the next turn after I activate this card. As for my choice, I'm summoning Player Neku." Shiki clapped her hands and giggled happily as a burst of light brought forth a very skinny boy with messy, spiky orange hair. He wore a black shirt with a gold-outlined indigo stripe going down the front, a matching pair of shoes, and baggy white shorts held up with a loose-fitting belt. Perched securely on his head was a pair of indigo headphones, connected to a small MP3 player that hung around his neck. His Combat Points equaled 1600, and his Health Points display measured 1300. After the display appeared, both Players' Health Points changed to 1600.

"What…?" the boy asked groggily, looking around before epening his eyes wide. "What the hell is this?"

"It looks like we're trapped inside cards as part of a Reapers' challenge," explained Shiki quickly. "Are you okay, Neku?"

"Fine, I guess," answered the boy curtly. "What's the challenge? How do we win?"

"Advance to the final round of a Duel Monsters tournament," Joshua supplied. "At least, that's what the goal is, as far as I can tell."

"The final round of a _what_ tournament?" demanded the boy, who had just spotted Alexandrite Dragon.

"It's a card game that reigns supreme in this world," exposited Joshua. "It's also a popular game in a myriad of other worlds. Everyone, this is another of my friends, Neku Sakuraba."

"He reminds me of Dylan," Zero commented, looking at the two. "Not many people are that skinny."

"Hey!" Neku and Dylan shouted in unison, pointing at one another. "I look _nothing_ like him!" This brought laughter from everyone else present.

"So, why did the Health Point totals change to equal Shiki's and Neku's individual Health Points combined?" asked Koukin thoughtfully.

"It's another rule of the Noise Combat card," Joshua explained. "When fighting in the Reapers' Game, each team shares one life force. If one Player dies, any Player who's made a pact with that Player also dies."

"So I was so close to destroying Shiki, but now I'd have to attack her twice more?" sputtered Dylan incredulously. "That's bull!"

"You already took a hit from that guy?" Neku asked Shiki, his face contorted with annoyance. "Don't tell me I have to babysit you here, too!"

"I can take care of myself!" defended Shiki. "Just… not against that giant dragon…"

"Don't worry," Joshua assured her. "I have just the thing to help you two out. I draw, and I'll activate the Force Rounds Pin Spell Card to equip to Neku." A round pin with a picture of a yellow and white fireball appeared and attached itself to Neku's shirt. Instantly, his hands lit up with flashing yellow energy. "Next, I'll equip Shiki with a Spell Card called Attack Boost Sticker!" A square sticker depicting a sword and an arrow pointing up appeared and stuck itself to Shiki's cap. Her Combat Points rose to 1800 as it was applied. "Now, time to attack. Neku, go get that dragon."

"_What?_" demanded Neku angrily. "How am I supposed to take on that kind of beast?"

"Use your Force Rounds," Joshua offered. Neku sighed and started throwing punches at thin air, causing six fireballs like the one on the pin to appear and fire toward Alexandrite Dragon. "When a Player attacks while Force Rounds is equipped, each round that hits will lower the target's Attack Points by 50, multiplied by that monster's Level. Let's see how many rounds will hit your dragon, Dylan." A huge black die with stylized white numbers materialized and rolled, landing on a three. Three of the fireballs careened off-course and dissipated, but the other three hit Alexandrite Dragon square in the chest. Its Combat Points dropped to 1400 as Shiki cheered her partner on.

"Now what?" asked Neku, still looking annoyed. "I didn't actually do any damage."

"You still have to attack," Joshua said evenly. "That was just the effect of your pin. Just approach Dylan's monster and hit it. Trust me."

"All right…" sighed Neku, walking forward and delivering a karate chop to Alexandrite Dragon's neck. The attack resulted in Dylan losing 200 Life Points, leaving him with a total of 7800, and his monster shattering as its Health Points meter showed 0.

"Now, Shiki, it's your turn," Joshua instructed. Shiki nodded and sprinted forward, sending a high kick that struck Dylan in the face and taking his Life Points down to 6000.

"Well, that wasn't entirely unpleasant," commented Dylan. Shiki merely scoffed and sauntered back to her place beside Neku. "My turn yet?"

"By all means," Joshua said, gesturing with his free hand.

"Dylan, I think I know a way around having to use the Noise Combat card's rules," advised Koukin. "I'm pretty sure it'd be cheating if I told you what it was, but it may be your best bet against Joshua and his friends."

"I think I know where you're going with this," Dylan said, drawing his next card. "I'll set a monster face-down and end my turn."

"Very well," remarked Joshua. "I suppose there's no real point in putting anything else down, so I'll just start by having Neku attack your face-down monster." Neku held up his hands to fire off the Force Rounds, but nothing happened.

"What the hell, Joshua?" Neku yelled. "How can I weaken that thing if I can't shoot it?"

"Sorry, Neku," said Joshua sheepishly. "but the effect of Force Rounds only applies when you attack a face-_up_ monster. You'll have to attack it and hope for the best." Neku gave a small nod and ran forward, holding his hand up for his karate chop. Before he could bring his hand down, the card turned over and transformed into an androgynous figure wearing a black turban and a black robe with two two green stripes near the center. Her Combat Points showed 1200, and her Health Points were 2000.

"You're good as gone!" Neku shouted, bringing his hand down.

"Neku, _no!_" cried Shiki. "That person's like us; trapped inside of that card!"

"Actually, Gravekeeper's Spy is like any other Duel Monster," Dylan corrected. "and it's in Defense Mode, so battle goes back to the way it should be." Neku ignored Shiki and delivered his attack, causing the woman to bring her arm up to block. Her Health Points dropped to 1600 as Gravekeeper's Spy used the block to right itself from it crouching position, facing Neku defiantly. "_What?_ Why did she change to Attack Mode?"

"I'm afraid that face-up monsters have no discretion between battle positions when under the change of Noise Combat," explained Joshua. "Once it's flipped face-up, its Combat Points will always come into play. You'll save yourself some damage, though."

"Not to mention my Spy's special ability," Dylan said excitedly. "When it's discovered by the enemy, it'll call in some backup, like another Spy!" The Deck slot spat out a card, which Dylan placed on the field. Another of the black-clad warriors popped into existence, and both monsters' Health Points jumped up to 3600.

"That's a lot of Health Points…" murmured Shiki.

"We'll get rid of them," Joshua said. "Just keep hitting them where it hurts. Go on, Shiki." Shiki sprinted forward and punched at one of the Spies, who once again brought up an arm to block, but her Health Points dropped to 2800. "I think we'll leave it at that."

"Good, because during your End Phase, I'm activating a Trap Card of my own," announced Dylan. "Go, Solemn Wishes! Now every time I draw cards, I gain 500 Life Points. Oh, and look! It's my turn!" He drew a card, and his Life Points jumped up to 6500. "Now, as for the rules of your little game… you can defend your cards all you want, but that only applies in battle. For example, I activate Lightning Vortex. By discarding a card, I can destroy all face-up monsters you control." As Dylan's card hit the Graveyard slot, a huge lightning storm brewed above the field, sending two jagged shafts of energy down toward Neku and Shiki.

"Neku, I don't want to die!" sobbed Shiki. Neku nodded and placed a hand on her arm, though it looked as though he wasn't too comfortable doing so.

"Don't worry," Joshua soothed. "Unlike the Reapers' Game, Duel Monsters is a game of second chances. I can revive you, or you can come right back in the next Duel."

"How's that supposed to help us right now?!" demanded Neku. Before Joshua could answer, the lightning overcame his friends, obliterating the Attack Boost Sticker and Force Rounds Pin in the process.

"Well played," admitted Joshua.

"Thanks," Dylan accepted. "Now I summon Flamvell Guard!" A small green dragon appeared in a fiery explosion, which settled to become a sort of barrier. It had 100 Combat Points, and the Health Points total jumped up to 4800. "I'm not keeping him around for long, though, because I'm tuning him with one of my Spies!" Flamvell Guard become a sphere of fire, and Gravekeeper's Spy became one of dark energy as the other Spy's Health Points dropped to 1600. "I tune Level 1 Flamvell Guard with Level 4 Gravekeeper's Spy to Synchro Summon Ally of Justice – Catastor!" The spheres of light swirled together, creating a mass of dark light that solidified into a silver and gold robot. Four mantis legs extended from the long body, and a single glassy lens eyed its opposition from a head that curved down into a sharp beak shape. It had 2200 Combat Points. The Health Points on Dylan's side bumped back up to 2800.

"What a strange summoning," Joshua mused, tapping his chin and staring at the new monster. "I surmise that Flamvell Guard must have been the Tuner. Otherwise, you would have just tuned your Spies together to form a stronger creature."

"Oh, that's a completely different concept you're going into, there," remarked Kaje. "If Dylan has his way, you'll likely see it as well in this Duel."

"I look forward to it," said Joshua, his eyes locking onto Dylan expectantly.

"Look forward to this!" Dylan shouted proudly. "I switch my Spy to Attack Mode, and I'll have both attack you directly!" Both monsters rushed forward; Gravekeeper's Spy slipping behind Joshua and delivering a sharp jab to his back, and Catastor firing a series of red laser bursts that hit Joshua in the chest. The attacks hit simultaneously, kicking Joshua's Life Points all the way down to 3800. "Your turn, Joshua."

"Thank you, Dylan," said Joshua as he drew his next card. "Next, I'll summon Player Beat, in Attack Mode." In a burst of light, a muscular boy wearing a white muscle shirt and khaki pants that cut off at his calves materialized. On one wrist, he wore a spiked wristband, and his head was covered by a black bandana marked with a large white skull. A pendant with a matching symbol hung around his neck.

"Whoa!" the boy yelled, wheeling his arms as if he had been falling. He looked around, and then back at Joshua. "Joshua! What is this place, yo?"

"This is the world we escaped to," Joshua told him. "You've been trapped in a card as part of the Reapers' last attempt to keep us in Shibuya's Phantom. My friends, this is Daisukenojo Bito."

"Hey!" snapped the boy. "Don't be usin' my full name, dawg! The name's Beat, got it?"

"Right, right," Joshua apologized. "Anyway, the rules of this game are a bit like you're used to, Beat, so just attack when I say so, all right?"

"I feel you," agreed Beat easily enough. A display appeared above him, showing that he had 2000 Combat Points and 800 Health Points.

"Now, how about a sticker?" Joshua asked. "I think you could use the Jump Sticker Spell Card, personally." A square sticker with the outline of a jumping silhouette stuck it to Beat's bandana. "Now, that should do it. Your turn, Dylan."

"I attack with Catastor!" said Dylan triumphantly as his Life Points rose to 7000. "With its effect, I can get rid of a non-Dark monster right away!"

"Yo, what's your beef with me?" Beat yelled, but the bug robot was already firing a black laser beam.

"Sorry, but Beat happens to be a Dark card," corrected Joshua.

"Oh, so I turn to the Reapers to try and revive my sister, and now I'm a Dark card?" Beat accused.

"It's just how your card turned out," Joshua defended. "In any case, you won't be doing anything to me this turn. I activate the ability of the Jump Sticker. Quick, Beat! Jump over the laser beam!" Beat nodded, produced a skateboard and used to ollie up and over the attack. "You see, with the Jump Sticker, I can negate one of your attacks every turn."

"I need to stop letting you use those Equip Spells…" muttered Dylan. "I place two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Time to get your partner out here," Joshua said to Beat, drawing his next card. "I summon Player Rhyme, in Attack Mode." A burst of light brought forth a small blonde girl wearing a loose orange shirt with a skull and crossbones on it, as well as white shorts that came down just above the knees. A white pouch was strapped to her shorts, and a bell hung around her neck. On her head sat a black hat with a small skull charm attached to one side. Her Combat Points were only 900, but hers and Beat's Health Points jumped up to 2900.

"Sis!" gasped Beat, throwing his arms around the girl and trying to keep his composure. The girl blinked a couple of times, then smiled sweetly at Beat.

"How long have I been out?" she asked him, returning the hug as best she could.

"Not sure," answered Beat with a laugh. "Been out for awhile myself, you know what I'm sayin'?" Even Joshua was smiling; a genuine expression of happiness, instead of his usual smug grin.

"This is Raimu Bito, Beat's sister," he introduced distractedly.

"Please, just call me Rhyme," said Rhyme with a giggle and a bow.

"Now, Rhyme, I'll equip you with the Pteropus Pin," Joshua told her as a black pin with a mess of swooping white lines stuck to Rhyme's cap.

"It's like they wanted to put _kanji_ on that pin, and then they just decided to scribble randomly," groaned Koukin.

"I'll admit, it looks a bit sloppy," Joshua admitted. "The power it grants to the holder is well worth it, though. Before I show you that, though, I'll have Beat attack Gravekeeper's Spy!"

"I gots this, yo!" Beat yelled, pulling out his skateboard and rolling rapidly forward. When he closed in Dylan's monster, he lowerd himself and delivered a shoulder charge that knocked the dark-haired woman backward, causing the Health Points meter on Dylan's side to drop to 2000.

"That's not all," Joshua continued. "I activate the Puck Pass Trap Card!" Suddenly, Beat lit up with a green aura. "When one of the Players successfully completes an attack, this energy is passed to another Player, increasing that Player's Attack Points by the amount of damage done."

"Catch, sis!" called Beat, flinging his arm out toward Rhyme. The green energy left him and formed a disc that flew in the direction he had flung his arm.

"Got it!" Rhyme replied happily as she snagged the disc. Her Combat Points shot up to 1700.

"Wait a second!" interrupted Zero. "Beat didn't do any damage to Dylan when he attacked."

"That's true," Joshua agreed. "but he _did_ do damage to Gravekeeper's Spy, and while Noise Combat is active, that damage qualifies as Battle Damage. Now, Rhyme, attack Catastor, won't you?"

"My pleasure!" bubbled Rhyme, taking a stance. A boomerang of energy appeared in her hand, and she threw it at Dylan's stronger monster. Catastor stood idly by as the boomerang flew in its direction, passing right through it and reversing direction. The projectile passed through Catastor again, coming to rest and disappearing in Rhyme's hand.

"Another Dark monster?" Dylan said in disbelief.

"Hey!" roared Beat. "You watch what you say to my sister, son! I don't take that stuff lightly, yo!"

"Right, sorry," Dylan said quickly, not wanting to have everything explained yet again.

"In any case, yes," explained Joshua, much to Dylan and Zero's apparent chagrin, based on their groans. "Rhyme was erased in the Reapers' Game, which turned her into one of the Noise. Even though her heart is as pure as can be, her affiliation with Beat and the Noise has affected her Attribute. Don't worry though, Rhyme. Dark doesn't mean evil."

"I wasn't worried," Rhyme said with a smile. Meanwhile, Catastor shook violently and flipped over, exposing its black underside and the red mark near its head. Its Combat Points dropped to 1200, but the Health Points meter rose from 2000 to 3000.

"By the way, the attack that Rhyme used has flipped your monster's Attack and Defense Points," pointed out Joshua. "Now her attack can go through with no ill effect. Go ahead, Rhyme."

"If you say so," she complied, jogging forward and backhanded Catastor across the face, sending Dylan's Life Points down to 6500 and the Health Points on his side down to 2500. "Here, Beat!" called Rhyme, flinging her arm and sending the green energy back to her brother.

"Thanks, li'l Skulls!" Beat said, catching the puck. His Combat Points rose to 2500.

"Well, that's it for me," said Joshua with a wave of his hand.

"I sacrifice my Gravekeeper's Spy to summon Total Defense Shogun!" Dylan announced as he recovered back to 7000 Life Points. Gravekeeper's Spy was shredded into pixels and replaced with a man wielding a sword and an enormous shield. His Combat Points showed 1550, and the Health Points readout showed 4200. "As soon as he's summoned, my Shogun switches to Defense Mode, but that doesn't mean he can't attack!" The warrior nodded and readied his sword at Dylan's words. "Now, sights set on Rhyme! Attack, Total Defense Shogun!" Dylan's monster hefted his shield and rushed forward, intending to crush Rhyme.

"No way, dawg!" denied Beat, kicking his skateboard over to Rhyme. "Dodge that shizz, sis!" With a quick nod, Rhyme jumped onto the unmanned board and used it to propel herself up and over the oncoming assault.

"Stupid sticker…" Dylan muttered. "All right, Catastor! You may not be what you used to be, but you can still do some damage! Attack Rhyme!" Even from its struggling position, the mantis machine was able to fire a few short laser bursts that hit Rhyme and took hers and Beat's Health Points to 2600, and Joshua's Life Points to 3500. "It's your move, Joshua."

"All right, then," said Joshua. "I'll summon yet another of my friends to the field. Come on out, Player Sora!" A boy with long spiky brown hair materialized next to Rhyme. He wore a gray hoodie with a red hood, the sleeves of which had red edges. Under that was a black shirt with a white X on it, and the boy also wore baggy red shorts with black edges at the bottom. His gloves and shoes were primarily yellow, with parts of them colored black. Around the boy's neck hung a pendant shaped like a crown. As his eyes opened, his Combat Points showed up, totaling 1700. The Health Points on Joshua's side jumped up to 3400.

"Huh?" the boy asked, shaking his head to clear his head. He looked over, saw Rhyme, and his face lit up. "Hey! It's good to see you, Rhyme!"

"You know this guy?" Beat asked his sister, jerking a thumb at their new ally.

"Uh-huh," said Rhyme, nodding. "He's the one who helped me find you when we were fighting the Dream Eaters."

"So that's your Game Partner?" the boy asked. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sora!"

"Any homey of Rhyme's is a homey of mine," said Beat. "Good to meet ya, Sora. The name's Beat."

"So… does this mean I'm back in the dream?" Sora asked, scratching his head.

"That would be my fault," explained Joshua. "When my friends were trapped inside cards, I called you and Riku in for some backup. If I've done everything right, only enough of your consciousness has been pulled here to lend us a hand. You should still be doing whatever you were doing before you appeared here."

"Man, that's confusing…" Kaje mumbled, rubbing his temples. "So this world is, like, an actual planet in space, _and_ it's some sort of a dream world."

"Don't pay it too much mind," suggested Joshua.

"It's not too bad," Sora said with a chuckle. "Some of my friends were trapped inside cards before, so I know a little about how it works."

"Good to know that you're hitting the ground running," commented Joshua. "Now, I believe it's Beat's turn to attack Catastor."

"Aw, yeah!" Beat shouted excitedly. He jumped on his skateboard and zoomed toward the bug robot, but he was stopped by a shimmering barrier.

"Boop boop, Mirror Force," stated Dylan. Beat flailed in midair before being thrown back at his teammates.

"_No!_" Joshua cried as all three Players exploded into light.

"Ah, that was satisfying," said Dylan. "Sorry about your friends, but I'm sure they're fine. My turn yet?"

"Yes," Joshua responded glumly. Dylan drew his next card, and his Life Points were restored to 7500.

"This is almost too easy," Dylan said, sounding nearly disappointed. "I summon Lancer Lindwurm, in Attack Mode!" A worm-like dragon with thin green wings burrowed up from the ground, brandishing a long lance as its Combat Points appeared, showing 1800. Dylan's Health Points display jumped up to 5400. "With these three monsters, I can finish you. First, Total Defense Shogun will have his piece!" The defender charged, pushing his shield swiftly, but an aura of light shone around Joshua.

"Disk Mode, activate!" said Joshua, raising his voice for only the second time since Dylan and his friends had met him. His Duel Disk contracted back into its base form, then began to spin. The components used for assembling the field spiraled out and surrounded Joshua. The Monster Card Zones enlarged to become shoulder pads, hip guards, and a codpiece, and the stylized skull symbol became a breastplate. On the green-haired boy's head appeared a helmet, marked with the arrow that had pointed to his Graveyard slot. The arrow that marked his Deck slot became gauntlets, and the arrow that marked his banished cards section became heavy boots.

"What's going on?" Dylan and his friends all exclaimed in variation. As they said this, Joshua's cards arranged themselves onto a floating metal rectangle, which became evident as being a temporary playing field.

"I've activated a Disk Mode," explained Joshua, looking determinedly at Dylan through a gray visor on his helmet. "By banishing five cards from the top of my Deck, I'm able to form the Duel Shield and summon myself as a monster to the field, protecting my Life Points from damage." A huge black shield formed in Joshua's right hand as five cards floated from the top of his Deck into the banished pile, which was previously empty. A display popped up that showed Joshua having 1750 Combat and Health Points. "For this purpose, my Life Points are divided evenly among my Attack and Defense Points." As soon as Joshua took the shield, his Health Points jumped up to 2250. "Also, the Duel Shield gives me an extra 500 Defense Points. Care to try again?"

"Oh, I'll do better than try," Dylan boasted. "Catastor, destroy him with your effect!" The robotic quadruped wiggled its useless legs and fired its black laser beam, but Joshua reflected it with his shield, causing Catastor to shatter outright. The combined Health Points on Dylan's side dropped to 3900.

"Sorry, Dylan," said Joshua. "but the Duel Shield protects me from being destroyed once per turn. If that destruction is effect-related, the shield destroys the card that would destroy me."

"Maybe so, but I can still do a little damage with Lancer Lindwurm!" challenged Dylan. The long dragon flew forward, its weapon extended. When it struck Joshua's shield, it left a scratch, and Joshua's Health Points dropped to 2200.

"At least my Life Points are safe, since I summoned myself in Defense Mode…" Joshua said to himself. "Thank God for small mercies, as they say. Is it my turn?"

"Indeed," invited Dylan. "You may be safe for the time being, but once I get some stronger monsters out, I'll have this Duel in the bag."

"I activate the Spell Card 'Second Chance'," Joshua announced. "I can revive a Player, but its original Defense Points become 100. I'll pick to bring back Player Sora." A heart symbol made of white light flashed, and in its place, Sora appeared, lying on the sandy ground, as if asleep. He woke up, righted himself, and dusted himself down. As he did so, Joshua's armor and shield folded together, his cards were sucked into the mess of parts, and all of it reconfigured into the black Duel Disk. "Of course, once I've summoned another monster, I can no longer be in play as a monster."

"Thanks for the save, Joshua," said Sora with a grin. "What's the plan?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Joshua replied, holding the last card in his hand up. "I'll be summoning your good friend, Player Riku." A burst of light brought forth a boy with short platinum blonde hair who was dressed in jeans and a sleeveless white jacket. The jacket had an upturned black collar, and the boy's wrists were adorned with black bands.

"What the…?" muttered the boy, looking around. He spotted Sora and turned to him, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. As he turned, a symbol resembling a heart with a loop in the middle and petal-like curves at the sides became visible. "Sora! Where are we? Has Master Yen Sid sent us on another dream journey?"

"Huh? Not as far as I know," Sora said with a confused look. "Joshua just brought us here to help us fight that guy." The brown-haired boy pointed at Dylan and his monsters, then indicated his friend's Combat Points and Health Points. The new Combat Points equaled 1800, and the Health Points totaled 1400. "By the way, guys, this is my best friend, Riku."

"Why are you chatting idly with the enemy?" demanded Riku.

"Relax," Koukin suggested. "It's just a game. No strings attached, we promise."

"Whatever," said Riku with a wave of his hand. "So, how do we play this game of yours?"

"It's quite simple," Joshua intervened. "It's my turn, so as the Duelist, I move into the Battle Phase and have Sora attack Dylan's Total Defense Shogun."

"Right!" replied Sora, taking a stance. In his hands appeared a three-and-a-half-foot long silver key with a gold handle. The teeth of the key were shaped like a crown, and a silver chain hung from the handle, with a charm at the end that was shaped vaguely like a mouse's head. Sora ran forward and swung the huge key at the shogun's shield. When the hit landed, Sora swung again, and for a third time. After the three hits, the Health Points on Dylan's side dropped to 3750. Sora began glowing with green energy, as well. "Riku, here!" he shouted, extending the key and releasing the green puck.

"It's your turn, Riku," Joshua encourage. Riku nodded and produced a weapon of his own. His was a straight black blade with blue streaks that started near the hilt. Where the teeth on Sora's key were, Riku's weapon had an angel's wing. The handle of the strange sword was formed by two simpler wings that curved around Riku's hand. One was a white angel's wing, and the other was a blue demonic wing. A similar chain hung from the handle of Riku's blade, but its charm was a black heart.

"Here goes," said Riku solemnly, running forward as the green puck was absorbed into his weapon. He did a similar three-hit combo as his Combat Points rose to 2050. The Health Points on Dylan's side dropped to 3250 as Riku passed the energy puck back to Sora. Sora's Combat Points rose to 2200.

"Nice work, gentlemen," Joshua complimented. "Dylan, it's your move."

"It looks like Dylan could win, if he could pull something with more Attack Points than Sora or Riku," observed Koukin.

"Quite so," Kaje agreed. "Otherwise, Joshua's done a pretty good job of forcing Dylan out of his masterful hand maintenance."

"Don't remind me," Dylan grumbled as he drew his next card. His Life Points refreshed to a full 8000. "I set another card face-down and summon Tour Guide from the Underworld, in Attack Mode!" A black bus with red windows and horns on the front pulled up out of nowhere, and out of it jumped a pink-haired girl wearing a dark uniform. "She's not sticking around, though, because I'm using her ability to pull out another Level 3 monster from my Deck. I choose Possessed Dark Soul." The tour guide stepped back into the bus and came back out, dragging a humanoid being made of fire with her. The bus promptly drove off into nowhere. "Now, I'll use these two monsters to build the Overlay Network!" The two monsters melted together into a black mass of light, which began to swirl in the shape of a spiral galaxy. "With these Overlay Units, I Xyz Summon Number 17: Leviathan Dragon!" Out of the galaxy flew a giant blue dragon with four massive wings. It curled its serpentine body around the mass from which it had come, and that mass became two dark spheres that began to orbit around the summoned creature. Its Combat Points showed 2000, but the Health Points on Dylan's side didn't rise at all. "Now, by using up an Overlay Unit, I can raise my dragon's Attack Points by 500, so here it is." One of the black orbs stopped its orbit as Leviathan Dragon opened its mouth and roared. The orb flew into its mouth, and its Combat Points reached 2500.

"This doesn't look good…" muttered Sora.

"You're telling me," Riku practically yelled. "You're the one with the puck, Sora! I'm left defenseless!"

"That's right," said Dylan menacingly. "Leviathan Dragon, attack Player Riku!" The blue monster roared again and fired a torrent of water that enveloped Riku, taking the total Health Points on his side to 700, and lowering Joshua's Life Points to 2800. "Your turn, Joshua. Draw your last pathetic card…"

"My Deck has no pathetic cards," Joshua assured him. He then turned his head to the left and winked. "Anyway, I'll set this card face-down and end my turn."

"Joshua, what are you thinking?" demanded Riku. "If you had Sora attack Dylan's Lindwurm, we could've dealt him a total of 800 points of damage!"

"Not necessarily," Joshua said sagely as Dylan drew his next card, and his Life Points increased to 8500.

"Oh, this is _too_ good!" he rejoiced. "I equip my Lancer Lindwurm with United We Stand! This gives him 800 Attack Points for every monster I control." A golden aura surrounded the snakelike dragon, and its Combat Points skyrocketed to 4200. "This is it, Joshua. Lancer Lindwurm, attack Player Riku!" The green-winged monster flew forward, but Joshua held up a hand to stop him.

"Not so fast, my new friend," he said. "I activate my Trap Card, Mission Failure!" A giant timer appeared in the air between Joshua and Dylan, its time showing seven minutes. "First, I select a number of cards you control. I'll choose your Shogun, your Lindwurm, and your two face-downs." A dark glow surrounded each of the cards Joshua had mentioned. "Now, I'll banish a card from the top of my Deck for each card I've selected. For each of those that's a Player, one of your cards gets destroyed. For each Spell and Trap Card that gets banished, I'll take 500 points of damage."

"Wait a second…" Zero thought out loud. "If he's wrong all four times, he'll lose 2000 Life Points, and Dylan's attack will go through. That'll kill him!"

"On the other hand, he only needs to get two right to clear Dylan's field of monsters," countered Koukin.

"I suppose it's the only option he has," Kaje said. "Knowing Dylan, he's got face-downs that'll stop Joshua's attacks in their tracks."

"Okay, so let's get this over with…" urged Dylan impatiently. "I want to get my first win and move on, already."

"So confident…" Joshua said with a mysterious smile. "I like that. Well, let's find out if your certainty will pay off." A card was spit out of the Deck slot, and it was revealed to be a copy of Neku's card. Without a second's hesitation, Total Defense Shogun shattered, leaving only the two dragons behind. Another card was spit out, which was a copy of Sora's card. Lancer Lindwurm promptly vanished, taking United We Stand and Leviathan Dragon with it.

"What the hell just happened?!" sputtered Dylan.

"You had no more Health Points on your side of the field," Joshua explained. "Playing monsters with no Defense Points is extremely dangerous when Noise Combat is active. Now, let's see what the third card will be…" The third card was a copy of Shiki's card, and one of Dylan's face-down cards shattered.

"Damn it, there goes my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Dylan fumed. "Okay, you got lucky, but there's no way you'll get four out of four."

"Don't speak so rashly, Dylan," warned Koukin. "Statistically, it has to happen sometime. I can't calculate the exact probability, but if Joshua's constructed at least a fairly balanced Deck, the chance is around fifty percent that you'll lose your last card."

"My thoughts exactly," Joshua agreed as the Deck slot spat out another card. Joshua held it up to reveal that it was a card depicting himself.

"No," stated Dylan as his last Trap Card shattered.

"And that concludes the effect of Mission Failure," Joshua said as the timer disappeared. "Is it my move?"

"Sure, but you won't take me out this turn," relented Dylan dismally.

"Excellent," Joshua continued, drawing his next card. "No sense in beating around the bush, so I'll just have Sora and Riku attack you directly. You boys ready?"

"You bet!" cheered Sora as he produced his weapon.

"Nothing better to do," Riku muttered, mimicking his friend's actions. Both of them ran forward and performed three-hit combos that took Dylan's Life Points all the way down to 4500.

"Hah! I'm still in the game!" shouted Dylan triumphantly.

"Yeah, about that…" Joshua said apologetically. "During my second Main Phase, I equip Riku with an Attack Boost Sticker, and I'll proceed to activate Riku's special ability." Another square with a sword and an upward arrow appeared, sticking itself to Riku's wristband. His Combat Points jumped up to 2300.

"What special ability?" asked Riku dubiously.

"When two Game Partners are joined on the field, one of them can activate a special power once per Duel," Joshua explained. "First, both of you produce your Keyblades." Sora and Riku both nodded as they summoned their weapons. A black keyhole with a glowing border appeared on Dylan's chest. "Now, I'm pretty sure you know what to do."

"Hm!" they said in unison. Each boy held out his Keyblade, and the ends lit up with a swirling energy.

"What's going on?!" demanded Dylan.

"It's simple," Joshua said matter-of-factly. "Riku's ability allows me to inflict damage to you equal to the combined Attack Points of Sora and Riku, but in exchange, Sora cannot use his own power. Anyway, take it away, O Guardians of Light." With that, Sora and Riku each fired a beam of light from their Keyblades. The two lines converged at the keyhole, causing Dylan's Life Points to drop to 0.

"I call hacks!" raged Dylan as the Accolade compartment on his Duel Disk glowed briefly. "There is _no_ way you should have gotten all those cards right."

"Sometimes fate is on my side," Joshua said. "That was an intense Duel, though."

"Yeah, an intense Duel that I should've won," mumbled Dylan.

"As a reward for a Duel well fought, how about I help you guys out?" Joshua offered.

"That would be nice," replied Zero. "It's gonna be quite the chore, getting through all that desert."

"It is a long journey, if the sands are constantly blowing around you," Joshua said with a smile. "Of course…" He pulled a pin from his pocket and held it out toward the shifting landscape outside of Raplaiq. With a flash of light, a wide path of packed sand formed, stretching out into the distance, with sandstone walls rising at the sides. "Now that shouldn't be too bad, should it?"

"That's amazing!" Koukin marveled. "Is there anything we can do to repay you?"

"Sure, just one thing," said Joshua with his mysterious smile. "Meet me at the finals, and put up another good fight." Without another word, the green-haired boy disappeared in a scattering of light pixels, leaving the four friends to begin their long journey along the road of sand.

**0:364:00:13:52**

* * *

**Whew! You would not believe how long it took me to write that chapter. Then again, I wrote myself into a pretty bad corner. Sometimes, you really have to work to decide the outcome of a Duel for yourself. Many thanks to all who waited patiently for this chapter, and thanks to IRL Koukin for proofreading this chapter before I posted it.**


	5. The Heat of Battle

**Chapter 5: The Heat of Battle**

**0:359:22:46:37**

"Well, at least this is better than breathing sand," offered Dylan as the four friends trudged along the walled path that Joshua had made for them through the desert. Despite the comfortable shade they enjoyed in the morning and evening, the middle of the day was still dreadfully hot, which was made no better by the fact that water was of a finite supply.

"Koukin, can't you use your ninjician powers to get us some umbrellas or something?" Zero pleaded. Koukin looked at her sympathetically and began searching his pockets.

"Sorry, Zero," he answered regretfully, after having produced an eggplant, a silver locket, and a live rabbit. "I've only got my fan, and you don't want to be waving that constantly while you're walking. You'll just tire yourself out."

"I'm actually not bothered by the heat so much when I'm busy wondering how in the name of Arceus you manage to store a _live_ rabbit in your pocket," marveled Dylan.

"Who's Arceus?" Kaje asked as he unwrapped a chunk of sawed-off cactus and began eating the mush that was inside.

"No idea," said Dylan with a shrug. "Hey! Stop eating my food! How did you even—"

"Keyboard," interrupted Kaje. "Also, Koukin's been teaching me at night, when it's not prudent to be spending extra energy by walking."

"Yet you can expend energy to learn how to steal food and keep animals in your pockets?" Zero asked, arching a brow.

"Eh, details," Kaje and Koukin said in unison with an identical shrug.

"Hey, look!" shouted Dylan suddenly, pointing in the direction they were walking. The end of the path was quite near, and it opened onto a vast city. At the edges of the city were ramps that led to several levels of raised walkways that were made of some kind of transparent, tinted material. The bottom level of the city had no areas for walking, and was paved with sandstone. Vehicles hummed through the streets at the bottom level, apparently running on solar energy. Above the city was a solid sheet of the same material that made up the walkways, casting the entire place in a pleasant cool shade.

"I would presume that this is Desolas," Kaje pointed out. Suddenly, there came a rush of wind that managed to kick up a bit of the packed sand that made up the path the four travelers were walking along. Looking up, the group spotted a figure in red and gold armor. The style was similar to that of Joshua's Disk Mode armor, but instead of the skull symbol, this person had the profile of a hawk emblazoned in gold across its chest. The person was soaring overhead thanks to a pair of wide wings that were connected to its back.

"Look out!" shouted Zero as the figure folded back its wings and slid into a dive that sent it hurtling down, right at the group. Everyone scattered to the walls of the path as the figure skidded to a landing, wobbling on its legs and fluttering its wings.

"Watch where you're diving, there!" Dylan scolded indignantly. "You could've killed one of us!"

"Sorry," the armored figure said sheepishly, the voice revealing that the figure was male. He stood up straight, folded his wings back, and the armor quickly folded into a red Duel Disk with the golden hawk insignia on it. The wearer was a shrimpy-looking teenage boy with shaggy dirty blonde hair. His face was expressionless, and his eyes were squinted, as if he was trying very hard to focus on something in the distance. "I'm not really used to having the extra arms, so landing with the Duel Glider is always a bit of a mess."

"Oh, come on!" raged Dylan. "Can just _anyone_ use those stupid Disk Mode things?"

"Actually, yes," the boy answered. "They did a demonstration on it the first day of the tournament, in the City Zone. I thought everyone had gone to it."

"No, we… sorta left right after our first Duel," Kaje explained, scratching his head. "I didn't figure we'd need to do much in the City Zone."

"More like you were so excited to go, you didn't bother to make any preparations," pointed out Zero.

"Fair enough," admitted Kaje. "How's the Disk Mode thing supposed to work, anyway?"

"It's actually pretty simple," the boy said. "If you'd like, we could have a Duel, and I can walk one of you through the instructions on how to activate one."

"Sounds good to me," Koukin offered. "No Accolades, though. I'm not putting a bet on a practice Duel."

"Understandable," agreed the boy. "By the way, my name's Tobias."

"Koukin," replied Koukin. "Now, let's Duel!" At the sound of his words, the Duel Disks activated.

"If you don't mind, I'll go first," Tobias said, drawing his cards. "I'll place a card face-down, and that will end my turn."

"That's it, huh?" asked Koukin as he surveyed his opening hand. "All right, then. I summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, in Attack Mode." The gray-clad warrior appeared from the card image, spinning the kunai he held. "Now, I think I'll upgrade those kunai he's got by activating the Axe of Despair." A hand-axe with a round head appeared, but Tobias held out his hand in a halting gesture.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass judgment on that activation," he said apologetically. "In fact, this decision is so solemn, it'll cost me half of my Life Points." The face-down card was flipped up, revealing a bearded, robed man. Tobias's Life Points dropped to 4000 as the axe shattered. "This completes the first step in activating a Disk Mode during a Duel. Your Life Points have to be 4000 or less."

"Seems reasonable," noted Koukin. "That, however, leaves you open for an attack. Sasuke, have at him!" The master ninja jumped into the air and spun, letting fly both of his kunai.

"Next, activating a Disk Mode takes some concentration, but once you know how to do it, it's not too hard," Tobias continued. "Disk Mode, activate!" Like what happened before with Joshua, Tobias's Duel Disk began to disassemble, and his cards were laid out on a floating sheet of metal. The remaining parts of the Duel Disk assembled themselves into the red and gold armor Tobias had been seen in earlier. "Once you've activated the Disk Mode armor, you can then decide which mode you'll use. Each one requires the banishment of cards from a different area. Since I have no cards on the field, no Extra Deck, and only one card in my Graveyard, I'm limited to the Duel Sword and the Duel Shield. I'm going to activate the Duel Sword by banishing all of the cards in my hand." As the five cards were placed in the banished pile on Tobias's field, a shining gold and red sword materialized in his hand.

"I see, so there are several activation conditions involved, and even then, you're limited to what you have access to," Kaje observed. "That means you'd have to plan out which Disk Modes you're going to use in your Duels."

"Exactly," confirmed Tobias. "Not to mention that you can only use one Disk Mode per Duel. Also, you're summoning yourself as a monster to the field, and if you get destroyed, you lose the Duel."

"Seems pretty risky," Zero added warily.

"The effects you gain can be well worth it, though," Tobias assured. "Speaking of which, I don't suppose you want to go through with your attack, Koukin?"

"Not especially…" passed Koukin after noting that Tobias's Attack Points were 2500. "I think I'd rather set a card face-down and end my turn."

"That's fine by me," Tobias said as he drew a new card. "Now to show you what the Duel Sword is capable of. Take this!" The scrawny Duelist swung the sword in a wide arc, sending a wave of energy at Koukin that shattered his face-down card. "Once per turn, I can destroy one card on the field, but I can't declare a direct attack. Naturally, I'd rather have an attack that goes through, and that's why I destroyed your Mirror Force instead of your monster."

"He's good, I'll give him that," Koukin admitted as he placed the destroyed card into his Graveyard slot. "That's the kind of strategy I'd normally use."

"Do you have predator instincts, too?" asked Tobias curiously. Koukin shook his head, and Tobias's face showed just the slightest signs of disappointment. "Oh, well. Didn't really expect to find any others like me here, anyway. Time for me to attack, by the way. My original Attack Points are equal to half of my Life Points, and this sword gives me an extra 500 Attack Points, so you'll be taking 700 points of damage." Tobias ran forward and swung his weapon furiously at Sasuke, who tried futilely to block the blows from the long golden blade, but ultimately shattered, taking Koukin's Life Points down to 7300.

"I'll allow it," he said, not even wincing at the damage.

"Good, because I'm going to go ahead and forfeit the Duel," said Tobias nonchalantly. Instantly, his armor folded into itself, absorbed his field and cards, and attached itself to his arm, once again a Duel Disk.

"No mincing around for you, huh?" Koukin asked, his voice giving off a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

"No time, really," answered Tobias coolly. "Not if I'm going to teach you guys how to activate Disk Modes outside of a Duel _and_ make it to the Desolas Cup in time to enter."

"Oh, yeah, there was a sub-tournament we were going to go to," Kaje recalled with a snap of his fingers.

"Yeah, people are kind of anticipating it," said Tobias. "Not to mention that it's in the center of town, I can't really fly inside the city, and the entry cutoff is tonight. I'm sorta in a hurry."

"So teach us how to use the Disk Modes outside of a Duel, already!" Dylan urged. "I wanna learn fast, so I can rematch with Joshua and get him back for that cheap victory!"

"If you're gonna learn fast, you're gonna have to learn how to focus," Tobias explained. "Because there are no cards or Life Points outside of a Duel, activating a Disk Mode takes a lot of concentration and energy. The trade-off is that you get to use them whenever the mood suits you, provided you have the energy to pull it off. Since I was a hawk before I came here, I've got a leg up on most folks on the concentration thing. The way I see it, the only useful modes are the Glider and the Tank. Nothing else really works outside of the game, since there's no need for swords or shields or any of that. Speaking of which…" Tobias stepped back from the group and spread his arms, allowing his Duel Disk to reassemble as armor and wings around him. "Before I go, each of you try the Disk Mode, and see if you can do it." As he stood watching, each Duelist closed his or her eyes in concentration. Koukin managed to form the armor, and a magician's staff appeared in his hand. Zero and Kaje were able to form roughly half of the armor, and Dylan was able to turn his Duel Disk into a green blaster with streaks of blue and a snake eye on each side.

"Two out of four ain't bad," Kaje said with a shrug. "to steal the song of a certain someone."

"Keep working on it," laughed Tobias. "Anyway, I gotta fly. Maybe I'll catch you guys at the tournament, and we can Duel for real." With that, he flapped his wings, caught a warm breeze, and shot off into the air, heading toward Desolas.

XXX

"How are we supposed to find anything in this stupid city?" Zero growled as the group wandered aimlessly through the raised streets. Below them, the cars, trucks, and vans whirred by almost noiselessly.

"Normally, I'd suggest we buy a map," suggested Kaje. "However, it seems finding something as simple as a convenience store or a rest stop may be a chore in this huge city."

"Well, considering we've been walking around for roughly three hours, that much is fairly obvious," Koukin pointed out. "Have I mentioned that I don't care for walking around too much?"

"Seconded," cosigned Kaje.

"Wimps," Zero and Dylan said in unison. Kaje and Koukin seemed about to retort when they turned a corner that opened onto a large, open space. In that space stood a large crowd of people, at the front of which stood a woman with very dark skin. She was dressed in a dark green robe, and a hood kept her hair and eyes hidden.

"Something tells me this might be the entry area for the Desolas Cup," Kaje surmised. "I don't know who that lady up there is, but she looks very official."

"That could be because she's holding a clipboard," offered Zero.

"That might do it," Koukin agreed.

"Are you guys aware that they're handing her their Accolades?" asked Dylan nervously. His friends nodded simultaneously. "I'm a little unsure about this. I thought a sub-tournament would just be a chance to Duel a bunch of people, not a big gamble."

"An entry fee would make some sense, though," reasoned Koukin. "I mean, we had to pay money back in our world if we wanted to enter an official tournament."

"Hence why I never entered them," Kaje pointed out. "I see where Dylan's coming from, but the game seems a lot more balanced here. I haven't seen anyone use a Deck that completely sweeps anyone else."

"Don't you still need a new Deck?" Zero asked, causing Kaje to look at his Duel Disk sadly.

"What kind of an idiot loses his Deck?" asked an olive-skinned woman standing at the back of the group of people in the plaza. She was about Zero's height, and her long hair was jet black.

"The same idiot who bet it in a Duel with a group of space-nomads who are trying to get their world back from a race of alien parasites," Kaje sighed. The woman raised an eyebrow at him, and after a moment, she let out a sigh of her own.

"Things weren't ever completely normal, here in Desolas," she said resignedly. "but until a week ago, at least the only people telling stories like that were insane. Now we've got talking animals, transforming Duel Disks, and suddenly, anyone with a Duel Disk is mysteriously bankrupt."

"What do you mean, 'anyone with a Duel Disk is mysteriously bankrupt'?" asked Koukin. The woman sighed again.

"Outworlders, huh?" she retorted. "No sense trying to explain, if you don't live here. I could show you to the nearest card shop, though."

"That would be most appreciated, ma'am," accepted Kaje, doing a deep bow and tapping three fingers against his throat.

"Oh, cut that out!" the woman chided, taking hold of the neck of Kaje's shirt and dragging him back up to his full height. "If you're going to thank me, don't make a spectacle of it, okay? By the way, the name's Maya. I'm going to have to ask you not to call me 'ma'am' ever again."

"Now that I know your name, I won't have to," replied Kaje with a grin. "Now, lead the way."

As it turned out, the nearest card shop was only about a block from where the contestants were signing up for the Desolas Cup, and it was fully equipped with all manner of cards from several different worlds, as well as a machine for creating one's own personalized cards.

"Hey, this should come in handy," Dylan noted, approaching a computer terminal with a keyboard. "It looks like a card catalogue."

"That it is, sir," confirmed the sales clerk, an old man with white hair that had receded most of the way. "The shops in Desolas have been equipped with every card currently in existence from all involved worlds. However, I must insist that you take no more than ninety cards, lest you void the contestants' reprieve."

"Contestants' what now?" asked Kaje.

"It's very simple, sir," the old man replied in his wheezy voice. "Contestants in the Gauntlet of Eternity are exempt from all expenses here in Duelia. Though this comes as an inconvenience to most business owners, we are a generally hospitable folk, so we don't mind lending a helping hand."

"That's quite generous of you," Koukin admired. "My friend's Deck was actually recently stolen, and we were hoping to replace it."

"By all means," nodded the clerk enthusiastically. "Just pick the cards from the catalogue, print the list, and I'll get the cards for you."

"Thanks," said Kaje as he sat at the terminal and began to type. Within a few minutes, he had printed the list and handed it to the clerk.

"Would you like a set of sleeves with that, sir?" the clerk asked. "Each Deck purchase comes with a custom set, and I see no reason to exclude you." Kaje accepted gratefully, and was shown to a machine with a touch screen, on which a blank rectangle was displayed. After several minutes of designing, Kaje printed the sleeves. By this time, the clerk had come back with the requested cards. Kaje took the cards, fitted them in the new sleeves, and inserted them into his Duel Disk.

"Thanks a lot for your help," said Kaje with a nod to the clerk. "With this new Deck, I'll be able to enter the Desolas Cup."

"Jolly good, sir," the clerk approved.

"So what cards did you get?" asked Maya as the group walked back to the plaza. "I was busy looking at some cards for my Extra Deck, so I didn't get a chance to see what your new Deck was going to be."

"I'm afraid you've missed your chance, then," Kaje teased. "You'll have to wait until the sub-tournament to see it."

"That's fine," Maya retorted. "I was going to show you my Deck before the tournament, but if you'd rather treat me as an adversary, I guess that's your prerogative."

"You know what they say," started Koukin.

"Something about a toaster?" Zero asked.

"No," Koukin answered as Dylan put his hand to his forehead. "I was going to say that rivalry is conducive for good chemistry."

"You mean if I Duel against Maya, I get to balance equations?" asked Kaje in mock innocence as Maya hid her face in her hands.

"Oh, you'll balance equations, all right," said Koukin. "Wink, wink. Wink."

"Oh, brother…" Dylan grumbled.

"If I had a desk, my head would be hitting it," Zero added. Just then, they reentered the plaza to find that the crowd had thinned considerably. Only eight other people were gathered there, not including the robed woman with the clipboard.

"I wonder why everyone left," thought Kaje aloud.

"Most of them left after they heard about the entry fee," said Tobias, turning around. "In order to enter, you need to put up three Accolades, and a lot of people spent so much time getting here that they haven't been Dueling enough to have more than the starting five Accolades."

"I can relate," Dylan complained. "Stupid Joshua…"

"It does seem risky," remarked Koukin. "Out of the four of us, I have only seven Accolades. If any of you entered, you'd only have two left, except for Dylan, who'd have one."

"It's safe to say that the winner would get all of the wagered Accolades, though," Kaje pointed out. "That would award the winner a pretty good advantage over the other competitors."

"I say it's worth it," offered Maya. "I've lived in this freaking city my whole life, and I'm ready to take a few chances."

"I like her spirit," Zero said emphatically. "I'm going for it!"

"I don't know," muttered Dylan. "I don't really want to lose this tournament and end up with one lousy Accolade." Koukin got a thoughtful look and seemed to ponder for a moment or two, before reaching into his pocket and withdrawing his Accolade book. He opened and took one of the sparkling gems from its pocket.

"Here," he said, holding it out to Dylan. "If you have two Accolades, you're good for at least two Duels after the tournament."

"Are you sure?" asked Dylan, taking the gem and turning it over between his fingers. "I wouldn't want to impose."

"It's no imposition at all," Koukin assured him. "Even having given you one, I can enter the tournament and still have three left. That should suffice until I can get some more, I think."

"So it's settled," decided Kaje. "We'll all enter the tournament."

"Good," the robed woman said in a strong voice. "Because with you five entering, we'll have enough Accolades and Duelists to begin the tournament."

"It _is_ getting close to evening, isn't it?" wondered Maya.

"Prevening, actually," Kaje corrected.

"What?"

"The time in between afternoon and evening," explained Zero. "Prevening."

"I've never heard of that."

"It'll catch on," assured Kaje. "It fills a desperate need."

"Sure it does."

"It does," Kaje agreed. The exchange was interrupted by the robed woman, who cleared her throat loudly to get everyone's attention.

"If you are done discussing meaningless terminology, I need your names and entry fees," she said. Each Duelist gave his or her name and handed over their three Accolades apiece. Once all of that had been done, the woman walked to the edge of the open area, and all eyes turned on her. "Welcome, Duelists! I am Dunia, sovereign governor of the Desert Zone, and I will be the judge of the Desolas Cup. Now that we have our roster, I will proceed to determine the matchups." Dunia held out her hands, and sand began to blow in from the desert outside the city. It came from all directions, buffeting the contestants as it collected in front of Dunia. When the process was complete, Dunia held a twelve-sided die comprised of sandstone. She hefted the stone into the air, and it rolled across the glassy plaza. When it stopped, it displayed the number six. "The first Duelist to step forward shall be contestant number six: Lea." A tall man wearing a long black trench coat stepped to one side of the plaza. The ornamented coat concealed most of his body, except for his black-clad hands and feet, and his thin, sneering face. A mass of red hair swept backward from his forehead in a multitude of sharp points. His Duel Disk was a bright red-orange, with a black chakram insignia on its face. Dunia held her hands out, and the die levitated back to her. She rolled it again, and the number displayed was eleven. "Lea's opponent will be contestant number eleven: Zero." Zero stepped to the opposite side of the plaza, while the other eleven people stayed at the edges.

"Good luck, Zero!" Koukin cheered.

"Thanks!" said Zero a bit nervously as her Duel Disk, which was black with three cobalt slashes of flame, activated, along with Lea's.

"Let's Duel!" they shouted, and the Life Point counters were set.

"Ladies first," Lea invited, giving Zero a come-on gesture after he drew his first five cards.

"For such a sarcastic-looking person, you sure are polite," noted Zero, drawing her opening hand.

"Hey, looks can be deceiving," Lea said with a grin. "I've always been a loose cannon, but I like to think that I've got a sense of honor."

"Good to know," acknowledged Zero. "I start by summoning Naturia Strawberry, in Attack Mode!" An upside-down strawberry whose stem made up its body appeared and opened its big pinkish-red eyes as its Attack Point display popped up, showing 1600. "I'll also set two cards face-down. That's it for my turn."

"I activate the Spell Card 'Blaze Accelerator'!" Lea announced after drawing his sixth card. A blue turret on a tripod materialized in front of him. "If I've got a Pyro monster in my hand with 500 Attack Points or less, I can send it straight to the Graveyard to get rid of a monster you control. Problem is, I can't attack if I do that. Got it memorized?"

"I guess so," replied Zero. "although I think it's a bit more important that _you_ have it memorized."

"Hmm… I suppose you're right," Lea allowed. "No one likes a smartass, though. Now it's my turn to summon, so I'll bring out Volcanic Slicer, in Attack Mode!" A bipedal reptile with silvery armored scales appeared in a burst of flame, its Attack Points display showing 1800. It turned its eyeless head from side to side, seemingly trying to judge its surroundings by sound.

"Thanks for Normal Summoning," crowed Zero. "When you do, my Strawberry gets 100 Attack Points times the level of your monster!" The strawberry sank its body into the ground and squeezed its eyes shut in concentration. As it did this, it grew considerably larger, and its Attack Points shot up to 2000. "Now, since you Normal Summoned a monster, I can Special Summon Naturia Cosmobeet from my hand!" A round brown beet with stubby limbs and flowers growing from its head appeared next to Naturia Strawberry. Its Attack Points totaled 1000.

"Cosmobeet!" squeaked Kaje, clapping his hands and hopping up and down.

"It's kinda cute, I guess, but why are you so excited?" Maya wondered.

"Don't ask," advised Koukin before Kaje or Dylan could say anything.

"Look at that," Lea observed. "You set up a nice little monster for me to burn with my Slicer, but those two face-downs have me a bit wary. Instead of attacking, I'll just activate Volcanic Slicer's special ability. As long as I don't attack, I can have him deal you a whopping 500 points of damage." The armored reptile inhaled and breathed out a fireball that cruised over Zero's monsters and hit Zero in the face, taking her Life Points down to 7500. "Now that that's done, I'll go ahead and set a couple face-downs of my own and end my turn."

"Oh, no, 500 damage," despaired Zero sarcastically. "Since your turn ended, my Strawberry's Attack Points go back to normal." The red fruit shuddered as it shrank to normal size. "Now, I'll tune my Cosmobeet and Strawberry together to Synchro Summon Naturia Barkion!" Cosmobeet turned into a brown ball of light that spun around Strawberry, which became an additional mass of brown light. They swirled together and solidified into a long four-legged dragon with green and brown scales. It whipped its tail back and forth, opened its mouth, and roared as its Attack Points total appeared above it, showing 2500. "Barkion, attack Volcanic Slicer!" The dragon began to run forward, but Lea flipped up a card, and a metal figure jumped up in front of Barkion.

"Before you can do that, I'm activating my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow," he informed. "Once per turn, I can use it to negate one of your attacks. It then flips back face-down."

"Wrong!" countered Zero. "By removing two cards from my Graveyard, I can negate a Trap Card you activate and destroy it. Good thing I needed two monsters to Synchro Summon." The two cards changed slots in Zero's Duel Disk, and Barkion continued its charge. As it rammed its head into Volcanic Slicer, the silvery reptile fell backward into a fiery vortex that appeared next to Lea's Blaze Accelerator.

"Upon my Slicer's demise, I'm activating my other Trap Card, which I needed to bait you into leaving alone," Lea said, eliciting a growl from Zero. "This, my friend, is Backfire, and it deals you 500 damage every time a Fire monster is destroyed." The vortex swirled and pulsed before sending a streak of flame at Zero, hitting her and taking her Life Points down to 7000 as Lea's Life Points dropped to 7300.

"That's gotta be annoying," Maya commented. "Lea seems to have the right moves to keep Zero's Life Points just below his." Koukin nodded.

"She'll have to pull out some drastic maneuvers if she wants to stay ahead of him," he added.

"It's lockdown and removal versus removal and burn damage," Kaje put in. "They'll both have some trouble keeping things on the field."

"I end my turn," Zero grumbled.

"I'll trade up my Blaze Accelerator for a Tri-Blaze Accelerator," announced Lea, sending his Spell Card to the Graveyard and playing another. The blue turret was engulfed in fire and emerged with a shiny silver sheen and two extra barrels. "Now, I can use any Pyro monster in my hand to destroy your monsters, and you'll take 500 damage for each time I do. As usual, though, I can't attack."

"Great…" sighed Zero.

"It is, actually," Lea continued. "I think I'll use it right now and discard my Volcanic Counter to destroy your Barkion." A flaming red quadruped with a dragon head leaped from Lea's hand, promptly shrinking into a fireball that was absorbed into the three-barreled turret. The weapon then fired, sending a barrage of small fireballs that caused Barkion to explode and Zero's Life Points to tick down to 6500. "Next, I'll set a monster face-down and that'll do it."

"I'm gonna kill that stupid turret!" Zero shouted. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" From the sky, a dark patch appeared, from which a storm of rain and lightning was released that struck the Tri-Blaze Accelerator and shattered it. "Next, I activate the Double Summon Spell Card, so I can summon Naturia White Oak and Naturia Vein!" A white oak with small eyes, a goofy grin, and flowers on its branches grew up from the ground. From its branches dropped a monster with a leaf for a head that sported a creepy grin. Its black body was concealed by a mass of leaves. "With these two monsters, I can make sure you won't get any more of those Blaze Accelerators out. I tune White Oak and Vein together to Synchro Summon Naturia Beast!" Just as Cosmobeet and Strawberry had done earlier, White Oak and Vein turned to light and combined to form a white tiger with tree trunks for legs. On its neck, back, and ankles grew tufts of leaves. The monster growled menacingly as its Attack Points display showed up above its head, reading 2200. "Naturia Beast, take care of his face-down monster!" Lea's card flipped up, revealing a round turret standing on two legs. Zero's monster leaped forward and swung one of its big tree bark paws, catching the turret's leg and making it fall over and shatter.

"Why, thank you," Lea said with a bow. "First, my Backfire will deal you some more damage." The flaming vortex pulsed and sent another streak of flame at Zero, bringing her Life Point total to 6000. "Next, my Volcanic Blaster's effect lets me place a Volcanic monster on the top of my Deck. I'll select Volcanic Queen." Lea's Duel Disk shuffled his cards, placing the selected card on top.

"Well, I'm stuck," sighed Zero. "Your turn."

"Lea certainly makes for a dangerous opponent," Kaje said, scratching his chin idly. "Theoretically, if he keeps stalling with Defense Position monsters, he can whittle Zero down without taking any damage himself."

"Gee, thanks for the support!" Zero yelled.

"I only meant that this would be a challenge," defended Kaje. "Defeating him is a simple matter of overpowering his defenses to compensate for the damage you'll take for destroying his monsters."

"Which I'm sure you can do!" Dylan cheered to break up the argument.

"What encouraging friends you have," mused Lea. "Kinda reminds me of the friends I've made through my experiences with Organization XIII. I'm sure they're probably out saving the universe right now."

"And you're not helping them because…?" Maya prodded.

"Hey, I've always got an agenda," the redhead assured her with a sneaky grin. "Speaking of which, here's your chance to overpower me, Zero. I'm sacrificing your Naturia Beast to summon Volcanic Queen on your side of the field."

"Hey!" Zero protested as the verdant tiger was shredded into pixels, to be replaced by a reddish-orange serpentine dragon with two arms and a pair of large wings. The fiery monster screeched triumphantly as its Attack Points display materialized, reading 2500. "Put my Beast back!"

"Can't, sorry," denied Lea. "Now, with the Volcanic Queen on your side, you're allowed to sacrifice monsters during your turn to deal me 1000 points of damage for each one. However, at the end of your turn, you have to sacrifice a monster, or you'll be taking 1000 points of damage yourself. Got it memorized?"

"Yes!" Zero said through gritted teeth.

"Good, 'cause I can't actually summon anything once I've played Volcanic Queen," Lea continued. "That being said, I'm gonna have to end my turn."

"I summon Naturia Guardian!" yelled Zero exasperatedly. A giant brown tree bearing red fruits sprouted from the floor of the plaza. A small face became visible on its trunk as its Attack Point total was revealed to be 1600. "Now I can pull ahead of you! Volcanic Queen, attack Lea directly!" The dragon flapped its wings to gain some altitude and swooped down at Lea, slashing at him with flaming claws and taking his Life Points down to 4800. "Now, Naturia Guardian—"

"Ah, ah, ah," halted Lea. "Since you dealt me Battle Damage, I'm going to deal you some. By removing the Volcanic Counter from my Graveyard, I can copy the Battle Damage over to you." Lea's Graveyard slot opened, releasing a blast of fire that hit Zero and sent her Life Points plummeting to 3500.

"You _bastard!_" raged Zero. "Guardian, attack!" The giant tree shook, and a spiky root rose from the ground underneath Lea, bringing his Life Points down to 3200. "Your turn."

"Don't forget," Lea reminded her. "you need to choose between your Naturia Guardian and your Life Points."

"I choose my Life Points, I guess," mumbled Zero. Volcanic Queen promptly wrapped its body around Naturia Guardian, engulfing it in flames and causing it to disappear.

"First, I activate a Spell Card called Solidarity," Lea said after drawing his next card. "Since I've got nothing but Pyro monsters in my Graveyard, all Pyro monsters I control gain 800 Attack Points. To show you, I'll summon Volcanic Rocket." A silver reptilian rocket with red wings flew up from a burst of flames, and its Attack Points started at 1900, then jumped up to 2700. "When it's summoned, I get to add a Blaze Accelerator to my hand from my Deck." Lea's Duel Disk spit out the appropriate card, and Lea instantly put it into the card slot, causing another blue turret to appear. "Of course, I'm not going to bother attacking, so it's your move once again."

"I set a card face-down and end my turn," said Zero simply, clearly disappointed with her lack of options.

"Don't forget, you need to sacrifice a monster, or suffer the consequences," Lea reminded her. "So, which'll it be, kiddo?"

"I'll take the damn damage," chose Zero begrudgingly. Volcanic Queen turned and spat and fireball that hit Zero in the stomach, taking her Life Points down to 2500.

"I'll sacrifice my Volcanic Rocket for a little number I like to call Volcanic Hammerer," informed Lea as he took his next card. The rocket was engulfed in flames, out of which stepped a red-orange bipedal reptile with a dinosaur's head and a flaming tail. It grinned hungrily at Zero's field as its Attack Points display appeared, showing first 2400, then 3200. "Now to activate its special power," Lea continued. "Instead of attacking, I can have my Hammerer deal you 200 points of damage for each Volcanic monster in my Graveyard. Let's see… There's Slicer, Blaster, and now Rocket. That'll be 600 Life Points." The humanoid monster breathed a fireball into its hand and threw it like a baseball, hitting Zero in the face and sending her Life Points down to 1900. "My, my. Looks like I've taken the lead. It's your move, Zero."

"I Flip Summon my Naturia Cherries!" she announced proudly. A pair of cherries with feminine eyes, each adorned with a cherry blossom, dropped down from a tree that quickly grew from the ground. The tree promptly withered once the cherries were in place. "Next, I'll activate my Trap Card, DNA Surgery!" Zero flipped up one of her face-down cards, and Volcanic Hammerer's skin changed from red to green, as did Volcanic Queen's.

"What's going on?" asked Lea, looking nervous as Volcanic Hammerer's arms sprouted leaves and vines.

"This is the first part of my master plan," Zero explained. "See, not all of my monsters are Plant-type monsters, which is pretty unfortunate. So, I slipped a DNA Surgery into my Deck for just such an occasion."

"And what kind of occasion is that?" worried Lea.

"The occasion where I need a Plant monster that can destroy the entire field," Zero pointed out. "Now, I'll tune my Naturia Cherries with your Volcanic Queen!" Naturia Cherries became a ball of brown light that spun around Volcanic Queen, who became a ball of red light. They swirled together and solidified into a black dragon with red flower-like wings and many thorned tendrils. As soon as it was done materializing, its skin turned green, and its Attack Point display read 2400. "I Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon!" The dragon screeched and flapped its wings, causing a storm of rose petals to kick up. "When she's Synchro Summoned, I have the option of destroying every single card on the field, but I'm going to activate one of my Trap Cards as a second chain link to Black Rose Dragon's effect! I equip Black Rose Dragon with the Plant Food Chain Trap Card!" Zero's other card flipped up, and her dragon shoved one of its tendrils into the ground like a root as its Attack Points rose to 2900. "Now, with all of my cards in place, Black Rose's effect can resolve." The storm of rose petals became an outright typhoon, encompassing the entire plaza. When it cleared, all of the cards were gone.

"What was the point of that?" shouted Lea exasperatedly.

"The point was that I was able to destroy my Plant Food Chain by card effect," explained Zero. "When that happens, I can summon a Plant monster from my Graveyard, like Naturia Strawberry!" The upside-down strawberry grew from the ground and took a clumsy fighting stance. "Next, I'd like to point out that I haven't Normal Summoned this turn, and I've got another Strawberry in my hand." A second strawberry grew from the ground and stood next to its doppelganger.

"You've _gotta_ be kidding me…" Lea complained. "I'm about to get beaten by pieces of fruit?"

"Damn straight!" cheered Zero. "Naturia Strawberries, attack Lea directly for the win!" The sentient berries ran forward and tackled Lea, sending his Life Points ticking all the way down to zero.

"All that time, I could've attacked and finished things earlier," remarked Lea. "Your field control strategy had me thinking you were ready with a Mirror Force or something."

"Maybe, but my Trap Cards would've worked with any monster, so I could power up my monsters and save them from being destroyed in battle," Zero pointed out.

"Great job, Zero!" encouraged Kaje.

"Very nice use of card chains," Koukin agreed. "I wasn't aware you were carrying a DNA Surgery."

"That's what Side Decks are for," Zero reminded him.

"I have to admit, that was pretty good," said Lea, holding his hand. "even though I'm out my three Accolades. Kudos, kiddo."

"Stop calling me 'kiddo'," Zero requested. "The name's Zero. Got it memorized?"

**0:359:18:27:54**

* * *

**Yeah, this took me awhile, but writing a Duel the right way is pretty difficult when you can't see the cards for yourself. I guess it's a bit short for this version of the story, but I didn't want to drag it out. Expect there to be a couple of Duels per chapter until the Desolas Cup is done. There are twelve contestants, and a loser's bracket, so that's another thirteen Duels to write, and I don't feel like dragging this out for thirteen chapters. Thanks for reading, and if you read, please review!**


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